An Elite Burden

In four full seasons of Division I college golf, my best season-long scoring average was 75.96. In those years, I recorded two top-five finishes in roughly 40 starts. Needless to say, I never showed up to NCAA tournaments expecting to win a trophy.

Collin Morikawa won five times in college and has six professional titles to date. In 48 appearances as a Cal Bear, Morikawa finished in the top five a whopping 22 times and finished his collegiate career 193 under par. Since turning pro, Morikawa has won two major championships, nearly reached No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking, and is widely regarded as one of the best ball-strikers, if not the best, on the PGA Tour. When he shows up to tournaments, he expects to win.

While watching the Rocket Mortgage Classic this past weekend, I thought about how lonely the top of professional golf seems. These players are the best of the best, yet they expect even more out of themselves. Top 20s aren’t good enough. Top fives aren’t good enough. Players like Collin Morikawa care about racking up titles and making history. On Sunday at Detroit Golf Club, Morikawa was laser-focused, often walking by himself. He wasn’t there to finish second.

How do they do it? How do these golfers manage expectations on that level?

We marvel at professional athletes for a variety of reasons, the most obvious being their elite physical gifts. But sports are inherently a failing endeavor. Unless you’re Max Verstappen, you are going to “lose” far more than you win. On the PGA Tour, there are dozens of middle-tier players who maintain tempered expectations. They understand that if they peak during a given event, they could win, but mainly they’re there to chase a top 20, maybe a top 10. Once you reach a certain level, though, that relatively easygoing mindset goes away. Collin Morikawa must know this all too well.

It’s odd to think that being an elite golfer could be a burden. Millions of people would kill to be on the PGA Tour. Yet as I’ve watched Morikawa try to find his footing in the roughest period of his pro career, I can’t help but sympathize with his struggle. Perhaps he believes he’s on the right path. But until he returns to the highs he achieved in 2020 and 2021, he’ll be stuck striving for more, because that’s how guys like him think. That’s their burden.