By Garrett Johnston
Los Angeles native Collin Morikawa is coming off a slightly quieter 2024 season, by his high standards, with no PGA Tour wins but still his signature consistency in major championships. He missed only two cuts for the year and posted eight top 10s in 22 starts (at press time) versus one win in 2022-23 with six missed cuts and seven top 10s in 25 starts. Without question, playing his way into the final groups and finishing top four at the first two majors highlighted the year. The SoCal native had a number of takeaways from those experiences in final groups and looks ahead to 2025 and his passion to make another Ryder Cup team.
What do you make of course knowledge and familiarity as you play in various major venues?
“When I first turned pro, I had never seen any of these golf courses on Tour. I think people underestimate what we do as professional golfers in learning a new golf course. If all of us showed up blind to a major championship course, we’d all still do just fine. At the end of the day, we know how to pinpoint things. Yes, it’s good to know where to miss, and it’s good to know where you want to hit it, but that’s what we do as professional golfers. We know how to take apart a golf course and really strategize how we’re going to play it.”
What did you learn about yourself from being in the final groups in both the Masters and the PGA Championships consecutively this year (finished T3, T4)?
“I learned that it’s getting there. We’re getting close. If you ask anyone-they’d love to be in that position and I worked really hard to be in that position, really hard. When it comes down to it, you want to be able to close and back-to-back majors not being able to put together those final rounds, it stings but at the end of the day I know we’re on the up right now and the game’s feeling really good so it’s about putting together four solid rounds and seeing how things play out.”
Any specific takeaways from that final group in the PGA (T4)?
“At the end of the day, you’ve got to play well. We all know what’s at stake and what we’re trying to do at the end of the day. You’ve got to make the putts and you’ve got to hit the shots and sometimes it’s just not your day. For me it’s not about dissecting it too much, it’s about ‘ok, I’ve done it in the past (closed in majors) it’s going to happen again, and it’s really about staying true to who you are and believing in my game.”
What do you tell yourself when you’re in the final group and players like Scottie Scheffler (at the Masters) and Xander Schauffele (at the PGA) start extending their lead over you?
“You get to a point where you think, ‘man, what do I need to do differently?’ But sometimes it’s not about doing something differently, it’s going back to what you were doing the first 3 days. It’s easy to look at it in hindsight 20/20 and say I could have done this or could have done that but just learning about certain processes that I go through before each shot, and how the body’s reacting in a certain pressure situation. You kind of take that and go on to the next final round situation.”
What do you expect from your caddie JJ Jakovac when you stand over shots on a Sunday?
“Well, we’ve done it for so long now, I don’t really expect anything. I think it’s just him being him. I think why we are a great team is because we work so well together. I’m not asking anything really extra from him, it’s just him being him and me being me and when we don’t that really well it’s a nice blend of opinions when we discuss each shot and then we go from there and execute.”
What is your swing thought to get to a good finish?
“It changes, but it’s simply knowing where the finish is and trying to rehearse that and allowing my body to get all the way to the finish and not focusing on the millisecond before you get to the finish. I think the key is to hold the finish. Everyone worries about impact in their swing, but when you watch all of us pros on the range, we’re all holding our finishes-that’s what’s most important.”
What do you make of PGA Tour/LIV negotiations and the future of golf?
“I haven’t been part of those talks. I hope golf in the short term very soon is in a great spot. We’re already a very small sport, but hopefully we can get on the same page.”
What’s your overall mindset for the 2025 season?
“I just want to make sure I’m putting in the work and giving myself the opportunity to go out on the course and hit good golf shots and not to worry about anything else. Not that I was worrying about anything else, but just really making sure I’m taking care of my body and that I’m doing the right prep work. I’m flowing really well with everyone around my team, and that’s important. The goal is to have the game smooth sailing to the point where all I have to do is just step up there and hit a good shot.”
How much of a goal is making the Ryder Cup team?
“It’s a huge goal to make it on the Ryder Cup team. I love playing in team events. Obviously they have a lot of passion to retain the cup and their fans really get into it as well. I’m putting a big emphasis on making that team and ensuring we do everything we can to help out as much as we can. First, I’ve got to make that team, and there’s a lot of golf left.”
