Collin Morikawa came close last season. Painfully so. Multiple times. Leading by six shots after 54 holes at The Sentry and bogey-free through 67 holes, Morikawa coughed up three straight bogeys to wind up second, tying the PGA Tour record for squandering the largest 54-hole lead.
After a roller-coaster season where he finished T10 at the Masters but missed the cut at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, Morikawa was in prime position for his first victory in more than two years at the Rocket Mortgage Classic last July but lost in a playoff to Rickie Fowler, who ended his own four-year winless drought on Tour.
Ultimately, the third time would prove to be the charm as Morikawa shot a final-round 7-under 63 to win the 2023 Zozo Championship by six strokes in October, ending a string of close-but-no-cigar results with his first Tour victory in 27 months.
“It wasn’t a matter of if I was going to win, it was just a question of when,” Morikawa said. “It’s nice to get that out of the way because this is a year I feel like the game’s in a great spot, the head’s in the right spot, life’s in a great spot and I’m not trying to worry about too many things other than going out and trying to have a great time and kind of enjoying playing golf and trying to win again.”
Winning certainly cures all. And it’s given Morikawa his swagger back.
The victory at Zozo—his sixth on Tour that also includes the 2020 PGA Championship and 2021 Open Championship—“freed everything up,” he said as he began the 2024 PGA Tour season. Morikawa finished T5 at The Sentry, donating $2,000 for every birdie and $4,000 for every eagle he recorded to the relief efforts from the devastating Maui wildfires. Matched by sponsor adidas, a total of $104,000 was donated to the Hawaii Community Foundation and Hua Momona Farms to provide meals and to support those affected and displaced.
Morikawa followed up that top-five finish by missing the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open after finishing second and third, respectively, at the same two events in 2023. He bounced back this past week with a T14 finish at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
“I think just use that momentum,” Morikawa said on how to find more success in 2024. “Every year the past few years I’ve kind of looked at it as, ‘Oh, look, I’ve played well but I need a tweak here and there.’ It’s not about tweaking right now, it’s just about putting together the pieces that I know work and just making sure I’m hammering down when I’m practicing, when I’m at home playing and, when I do show up at a tournament, it’s where it needs to be.
“I’m not trying to search for anything. I’m not trying to work on anything. I’m just trying to refine my skills and show up like I know what I can do.”
Morikawa started putting those final pieces together when he began working with a putting coach, Stephen Sweeney, for the first time in his career in November 2022. The 26-year-old took things one step further the following September by splitting with childhood coach Rick Sessinghaus after nearly two decades to work with Mark Blackburn ahead of the 2023 Ryder Cup.
Two months later, Morikawa won the Zozo and comes into the 2024 campaign more confident than ever.
“There’s small goals here and there but at the end of the day I know (with) my game right now I can go and win a handful of times or at least multiple times, and that’s a goal,” he said. “Yes, I want to keep getting better and improving things and that’s going to be a never-ending process but the pieces I added to the puzzle right now with my putting coach and with Blackburn on the coaching staff for my swing and short game—all these pieces I’m putting together right now, I’m very, very happy where I’m at.
“That’s why I’m very excited for this year.”
Michael LoRé 