MORIKAWA MAKES HISTORY; RYDER CUP STANDINGS THROUGH THE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

If there’s such a thing as beginner’s luck, Collin Morikawa has perfected it.

Just 11 months after winning the 2020 PGA Championship in his first attempt, Morikawa has done it again, going 1 for 1 in his Open Championship debut to become the 2021 Champion Golfer of the Year.

“We only get four majors a year, and every single one of them is very special,” Morikawa said. “To finally get to play an Open Championship for the first time and win it, it's going to be that much more special… To be a part of that history, it's awesome. To hear Champion Golfer of the Year, chills.”

The 24-year-old becomes the first player in history to win in two major championship debuts, bringing his professional win tally to five in just 25 months since turning pro.

Additionally, Morikawa’s win means Americans have now won 14 of the last 18 major championships.

And while it was a big week across the pond for the American contingent, it was an even bigger week in the U.S. Team Ranking reshuffle – for the first time in 48 weeks, a new No. 1 reigns atop the standings.

With 4,140 points added from his win at Royal St. George’s, Morikawa has unseated Dustin Johnson and leads the Ryder Cup rankings by 1,487.06 points. Johnson moves to second, with Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka and Justin Thomas rounding out the Top 5, respectively.

Just outside the automatic qualifying Top 6 spots is the week’s other biggest story – Jordan Spieth. With a performance reminiscent of his 2017 Open Championship victory, the Texas native continued his recent resurgence, finishing second on the week to add 2,396 points to his Ryder Cup total and move four spots to 7^th in this week’s ranking.

Patrick Reed, Harris English and Patrick Cantlay all move down one rank to fill Nos. 8-10, while FSU alum Daniel Berger jumps one spot to 11^th following his own strong week at The Open. Tony Finau rounds out the Top 12.

For a full list of the Top 100 in the U.S. Ryder Cup standings, click here. The points system for this year's American team will include the top six point earners securing spots and the remaining six will be selected by Captain Stricker following the 2021 TOUR Championship.