Searching for Collin Morikawa

In the days after the 2019 Open Championship at Royal Portrush, as Shane Lowry was going bar to bar across the island of Ireland to celebrate his victory with anyone who could pour a proper Guinness, the gears of the golf world kept turning. Most of the top PGA Tour players found themselves in Memphis for a WGC, but outside of Tahoe, an up-and-coming talent was trying to burst onto the scene. And with birdies on four of his final five holes, Special Temporary Member Collin Morikawa had successfully done exactly that. 

Six years after his breakthrough victory at the Barracuda Championship, Collin Morikawa made the journey to Royal Portrush last week at the Open Championship in search of a season-saving performance. Not in the sense that he’s played horribly in 2025, but in that he hadn’t performed to his standard in any of the first three majors of the year. Another flop would mean he wasted a full season of majors in the prime of his career, something we wouldn’t have predicted after he won two of the game’s biggest events in his first eight attempts. More than that, the recent trend of negative media attention – some of which has been brought on by Morikawa himself – would almost certainly continue.

After an opening-round 75 at Royal Portrush, Moriakwa set off to the driving range in desperate need of a change. He lost more than two shots to the field with his approach play on Thursday. Ball after ball, strike after strike, the frustration grew. Joseph LaMagna reported that Morikawa hit a total of 169 range balls after that first round, none of which went longer than 200 yards. One of the modern game’s most dependable tee-to-green players didn’t have it.

And he couldn’t find it. 

Morikawa shot 74 on Friday, his third missed cut at the Open in his last four starts. His 2025 Wikipedia column was cemented in grey, the first season of his career in which he didn’t record at least one top-10 finish in a major. His social media post recapping the week began with the phrase, “Sometimes you feel like you’re out there alone.”

Collin Morikawa finds himself at a very interesting place in his career. At 28 years old, the elite ball-striker could conceivably be a fan favorite week in, week out. And yet, he’s not exactly in high standing with either the fans or the media. He’s rotating through caddies faster than Lydia Ko in her prime, and his results have fallen off this summer.

After falling short to Russell Henley at Bay Hill this spring, Morikawa declined to talk to the media. This interaction set off a series of stories, including when he went out of his way to say that he doesn’t owe the media anything, to the Masters where he put the onus on the media to do their job. “If you guys don't want to ask me (questions), it's not my job to go out and tell you my story,” he noted in response to a question about dealing with criticism. “I could have said it differently…I stand by what I said.” 

It’s possible that Morikawa means what he says, that he doesn’t feel any responsibility to help tell his story. But there is another explanation. 

Collin Morikawa has long been viewed as one of the best prospects in golf. When he burst onto the scene alongside Matthew Wolff and Viktor Hovland, the triumvirate was viewed as a trio of future superstars. Collin quickly moved past both the Oklahoma State Cowboys, winning two majors and three additional PGA Tour events in his first two seasons as a professional. He was also praised as the best iron player in the game, perhaps the best we’ve seen since Tiger Woods. But since winning the 2021 Open, Morikawa has won just twice and hasn’t held a trophy since the 2023 Zozo Championship. His player profile hasn’t changed much, and yet the titles haven’t fallen his way like they did early in his career. In this time, Scottie Scheffler has blown past everyone in professional golf, including his junior and collegiate peers like Morikawa. The two were separated by a year in school but had many opportunities to compete against each other when they were younger, a time in which Morikawa often got the better of Scheffler. Now, the world fawns over Scheffler and views Morikawa as a second- or third-tier men’s professional golfer.

Comparison is the thief of joy, but it’s hard not to fall into that trap in a winner-takes-all sport. Morikawa began his professional career with a boom-or-bust results page, one that included wins when the putter was hot. The last 18 months have seen more consistency week to week, and he has earned eight top-five finishes since the 2024 Masters. And yet, he’s not the darling that many thought he would be early in his career.

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The time between the Open’s visits to Royal Portrush has been very good to Collin, and yet he’s understandably frustrated with his current standing in professional golf. Does that excuse a pissy attitude? Of course not. But one has to wonder if falling into the shadow of Scottie can be good for his career. A reset that helps him find who he wants to be on and off the course. If he wants to be prickly with the media the rest of his career, that’s his prerogative. But it’s possible that the success and attention he received early in his professional days set him on an unrealistic trajectory and it’s time for a course correction. Unlike Scheffler, Morikawa seems to tie his value to on-course results. That’s understandable, if not expected based on what we’ve come to know from elite professional athletes. But the benefit of not being in the spotlight is that you have the chance to define how you want to appear next in it.

The first question Collin Morikawa received at his Masters press conference, before he dove into his relationship with the media, was about whether or not he thought about completing the career grand slam. With PGA and Open Championship titles to his name and a course in Augusta National that seemingly suits his game, it was logical to think that the player leading the tour in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green to that point could start getting ahead of himself. “Yeah, it creeps in. If it doesn't creep in, then you really don't care,” he began his response. “I've been close. It's just keep knocking at the door.” 

Collin Morikawa clearly cares about being one of the best. He undoubtedly still has the game to perform on the course, even if he isn’t doing so right now. But both he and the golf world at large will benefit from a Morikawa who is more comfortable with who he is and his place in the game.