At this point a year ago, Collin Morikawa arrived in Japan feeling rather gloomy. He had not won since his triumph at Royal St. George’s in 2021, where he became the Champion Golfer of the Year that summer. But in the eight majors between then and last year’s ZOZO Championship, he still managed to post three top 10s. Yet, questions about his form and talent lingered. But deep down, Morikawa knew it was not if he would win again but when.
Well, Morikawa won the ZOZO by six shots that week, emerging victorious for the first time in over two years. A tremendous weight fell off his shoulders; you could see it when he embraced his caddy, Jonathan Jakovac, on the 18th green in celebration.
“Even in these tough times, let’s call it the past two years, right, [Jakovac has] stuck through it. We’ve sat on the range for longer than I think I’ve ever hit balls on the range for the past two years. He’s done more than probably what I could have even asked for out of a caddie, and that’s saying a lot. You know, it’s not like these guys are just carrying a golf bag, you know? He’s right there. He’s a friend, he’s a mentor, he’s someone I rely on, he’s someone I respect. He’s everything,” Morikawa said after his win in Japan last year.
“I wouldn’t be here right now without him. We’ve spent so many hours just trying to figure this out, and he’s spent countless hours going through videos on his phone that I’ve sent him to try and figure out what made us better three years ago than where we are the past couple of years. We tried everything. We’re trying a bunch of things. Sometimes, you just hit it; you find what you need to find. It just happened to be that we had to break it down a little bit more, go down a little bit more surface level, and understand it. He’s awesome. He is absolutely the best. I would not be here, and I would not have won my sixth PGA Tour without him. I’ve been lucky to have had him since day one when I turned pro.”
Morikawa’s next official start on the PGA Tour came in early January at The Sentry in Maui, where he finished in a tie for fifth. But after that, Morikawa struggled once again. His ball striking was nowhere near where it was when he won two majors in the span of 11 months. He could not make a putt, too, as evidenced by his missed cuts at Torrey Pines and Bay Hill.
He then decided to try to right the ship at the Valero Texas Open—the week before The Masters—and tied for 75th, an extremely disappointing finish considering the low-caliber field of that event.
Yet, golf is a funny game.
Immediately after arriving at Augusta National for the 2024 Masters, the day after that abysmal finish in Texas, Morikawa headed straight to the Tournament Practice Area. While there, he and Jakovac discovered something in his swing.
“We found something early on Monday, and we’re just kind of sticking with that,” Morikawa said after his second round at this year’s Masters.
“Sometimes you need one swing thought, and I just had to find what was working. It’s a good time for it to start coming together.”
Whatever Morikawa discovered on that day—Elicpse Day—turned him into one of the best players in the world again. It’s almost as if Morikawa blossomed into a different player, turning away from his past struggles and becoming a top contender again. The Solar Eclipse served as a perfect metaphor for Morikawa’s transition.
Since then, he has arguably been the best player, not named Scottie Scheffler or Xander Schauffele. But he has not won since last year’s ZOZO Championship, a notable development considering the talent he has flashed.
He contended at both The Masters and the PGA Championship, playing in the final groups on Sunday in both. If not for his self-described “greed,” maybe Morikawa would have donned the Green Jacket instead. The final round at Valhalla did not go his way either, as he could not get a birdie putt to drop until the 18th green. He ranked third to last in strokes gained putting that day.
Nevertheless, since making that discovery beneath the Georgia Pines, Morikawa has finished outside the top 20 only four times, with his worst result being a T-28 at the BMW Championship in late August. He has played in 13 tournaments since the 2024 Masters, which includes a pair of runner-up finishes to Scheffler, who had a Tiger Woods-like campaign in 2024. Morikawa came close to de-throning the World No. 1 at the Memorial but lost by a stroke. Then, three months later, Morikawa turned in a spectacular effort at the Tour Championship but fell short because of the Starting Strokes Format. If it were a regular stroke play event without the handicapping, Morikawa, not Scheffler, would have won at East Lake that week. His approach play was on fire.
Still, after Scheffler lifted the FedEx Cup trophy, someone asked Morikawa if he could assess his 2024 season. His response is telling:
“I’ve got to start playing better in final rounds. That’s what it comes down to,” Morikawa said in Atlanta.
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“It’s not like I had to do anything special in a handful of those rounds. I didn’t have to shoot 63s to win. I don’t know how many final groups I was in this year, but enough to where I can think of a few easily off the top of my head, and when you can do that, you hope to think of the wins. I’ve got to figure out how to—not sustain the energy but just sustain the golf and figure out how do we shoot a 5-under in a final round where it’s just effortless.”
What’s crazy about Morikawa is he does not need to change much. He only needs a bounce or two to go his way. Yes, he is that good. He displayed that at the Presidents Cup, too, winning four points for the Americans en route to their historic victory. Only Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay matched his four-point performance, proof that Morikawa is again among the best of the best.
But now he arrives in Japan one year later, searching for another victory. He is long overdue, especially considering how well he has played since April.
Morikawa has been a staple on every leaderboard, whether at Colonial, The Olympics, or East Lake. He also finished among the top 16 at both the U.S. Open and The Open, capping off a splendid major championship season at Royal Troon.
Now, it’s time for him to finish atop the leaderboard.
Considering his prior success on this golf course and this week’s limited field, the defending champion is as strong of a pick as any. Of course, his otherworldly iron play, which has been solid but not up to his standard this season, superb short game, and tremendous accuracy off the tee are three good reasons in and of themselves. But when push comes to shove, it’s a matter of getting the job done.
He has all the talent in the world to do so, and it would surprise nobody if he did. A win this week would also give him the confidence he needs going into 2025, which he hopes will be a ‘fun year,’ as he alluded to at East Lake. But it would also cap off a remarkable 2024, one that has been clouded by the Scheffler and Schauffele reign. A win for Morikawa is long overdue, and I believe he finally delivers with a victory this week.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.
