Cal at the 2024 Masters: Collin Morikawa and Max Homa tie for third

All three California Golden Bears at Augusta finished in the top 20.

Credit: Cal Men’s Golf

After flirting with the lead at various parts of The Masters, Collin Morikawa and Max Homa finished at -4, tying for 3rd at the 2024 Masters as Scottie Scheffler used a “six birdies in nine holes” stretch to win his second green jacket.

Morikawa had a great start in the third round and used his elite iron play to get to 69 and put himself in the final group, and pulled into a tie for the lead with a birdie on 8. But his struggling putter couldn’t allow him to break ahead, and two disasters at 9 in the bunker and 11 in the water ended his Masters title hopes. After three rounds under par (the only golfer at the Masters to accomplish this), Morikawa finished with a +2, 74 on Sunday.

It’s Collin’s best finish at The Masters and his third straight top ten finish at Augusta (5th in 2022, tied for 10th in 2023), and his eighth top ten at a major. Morikawa has been struggling as of late (dipping to 20th this year), so hopefully this is will help him return to form.

Max Homa continued his mid-career resurgence at Augusta, holding a share of the 36-hole lead. He held steady in the top three for nearly the entire weekend, staying fairly close up until the 11th hole. But he missed too many birdie opportunities (none on Saturday), and hit an unplayable ball on the approach shot at 12 that led to a double bogey and ended his first major chances.

Homa’s third place finish is his best major finish ever and his second top ten major performance in a row (T-10th at the 2023 Open). He’s getting closer to landing one of the top four prizes in golf, and should climb back into the top 10 of the world golf rankings.

Byeong Hun “Ben” An hung around the top ten for most of the week, finishing at +2 in a tie for 16th. This matches his 2019 US Open performance as his best major performance on tour.

Congrats to our Bears at the tradition unlike any other!