Jamie Squire/Getty Images
As Collin Morikawa hoisted the huge Wanamaker Trophy above his head on Sunday evening, giving it a quick, jubilant shake, the lid went clattering off. Again, he was providing exactly what golf needed in a season dimmed by plague.
First the 23-year-old Morikawa delivered a dazzling final round to win the P.G.A. Championship at San Francisco’s T.P.C. Harding Park, becoming the long-overdue first major champion of 2020. Then came the comic relief, the sheepish smile as the top of the trophy went astray.
After Morikawa made two unforgettable shots to emerge from a throng of tenacious contenders on the back nine Sunday, it was tempting to consider the future of the game, all the more so since that throng included Matthew Wolff, a 21-year-old in his first major, and Scottie Scheffler, a 24-year-old, who finished tied for fourth.