Collin

Morikawa

Morikawa opened the week with just one starting strokes, nine shots behind World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler. He quickly erased the deficit with seven birdies and an eagle while also missing a few more makeable putts along the way. “I looked at J.J. I think we were through 12 or 13 holes and we joked thinking that we haven’t hit this many shots pin high in four rounds in a full tournament for awhile. So it’s been nice to just kind of see that, kind of see the irons do what I want, and just keep it up, really.” This will go in the books as his lowest round recorded on the PGA Tour (62s in R4 of the 2021-22 CJ CUP and R4 of the 2022 Sentry TOC). He ended the day tied at the top alongside Keegan Bradley and Viktor Hovland.

Morikawa has relatives who live on Maui so the latest natural disasters have really hit home for the 26-year-old. “It’s devastating what we’ve been seeing. The before-and-after photos are just heartbreaking, knowing that my entire dad’s side of the family grew up there. My grandparents were born in Lahaina. We had the restaurant out there. That’s what the photo was. We went there as kids. It’s a special place.” Morikawa has pledged $1,000 for each birdie he records during the playoffs. He’ll be donating to Maui United Way and World Central Kitchen. He sprinkled six birdies today at TPC Southwind, erasing a lone blemish at the par-4 seventh.

Morikawa started four shots off the pace but saved his best for last at Detroit Golf Club. He piped 14-of-14 fairways and landed 16 GIR. The putter warmed up too, with 3.2 strokes gained with the flat stick. “This is kind of how the golf I wanted to play. Today I thought I played really well, first three days I thought it was pretty mediocre. It’s kind of the old Collin hopefully back, just knowing that we’re going to keep it in front of myself, give myself some looks, and when putts go in and shots are a little closer we have days like today. It will be really exciting for me I think heading to The Open.” Morikawa opened the calendar year with back-to-back podiums but this is his first top-5 finish since then (12 starts in between).

It was an all-around effort for Morikawa in round one at Detroit Golf Club. He gained strokes in all four sub-categories of strokes gained. That standout area was putting (+1.5 SGP), starting to pick up some momentum in that department since moving to AimPoint at the PGA Championship. Despite the low score today, he walked off feeling a bit underwhelmed by he final score on the card, “It was an easy 6 under, it could have been a lot lower, but that’s kind of what I want, how my game should be really.”

The Los Angeles native will get some home-cooking comfort this week, “Stayed at my parents’ house on Saturday night. Every time I come back to LA, it’s my favorite spot in the world. It’s always going to be home for me no matter where I live, no matter where I move to.” There were questions regarding his recent injury and he answered them with positive news, “There’s no pain swinging right now, which is great. I might be teeing up kind of weirdly this week, so don’t take too much into that, but it’s just precautionary.” Morikawa arrives with two wins on his major championship resume. He could pick off the third leg of a career grand slam if he won this week. He’s posted top 5s in each of his last two tries at the U.S. Open.

This is a tough blow for Morikawa who was T9 on the leaderboard in what is a wide-open leaderboard at Muirfield Village. He was just two shots off the pacesetters with 18 holes remaining. Gamers should take note of this injury but also be aware that it’s his first mid-tourney WD in 91 career starts.

The Cal-Berkeley products both have some experience at TPC Louisiana but this will be their first time playing it together. “I’ve gotten to know Collin since he was in college and always really respected how he went about his business. Obviously appreciate the way he plays golf, and to get to partner with him and get to compete with him and make some birdies will be fun, but I also think we make a very good team, and I’m looking forward to getting going on Thursday.” Homa has always seen huge potential in Morikawa and now they get the pleasure of doing damage together on the course. They’ve opened as 8/1 outright betting options this week, second behind only the defending champs, Patrick Cantlay & Xander Schauffele.

Morikawa is making his third start at THE PLAYERS and arrived with a T41 and missed cut in his first two tries. “It’s a course you really can’t get away with anything. You have to hit it well off the tee. Obviously you have to hit some good approach shots. But if you’re hitting it well off the tee, you’re going to give yourself some birdie opportunities.” He certainly struck it well, ranking 3rd in strokes gained off-the-tee and 1st in approach play. This will be the third time in his last six starts that he’s posted T5 or better after round one.

Morikawa had a rare missed cut last week in Phoenix but got right back on track in round one at Riv. He piped 8-of-14 fairways (T32) and landed 13 GIR (T8). “Just kept it really simple out there, hit a lot of fairways, gave myself a lot of birdie looks. That’s kind of the name of the game out here. Found myself in a few missed fairways come the back nine, but was able to make up-and-down and was able to keep that momentum and make two nice birdies coming in."Morikawa is 3-for-3 at this event including a runner-up finish last season.