Morikawa Wants “Absolute Chaos” from New York Fans | Ryder Cup 2025

Collin Morikawa speaks before his third Ryder Cup, explaining why team weeks can jolt his game, how a “sour taste” from Rome fuels Team USA, and why he wants Bethpage Black to be “absolute chaos” with the New York crowd. He breaks down confidence, intentional focus, ball-striking form, the home-course advantage, and the push he’s getting from vice captains (plus some team-room prop bets).

Colin Morawa is with us now at the 2025 RDER Cup. Colin, welcome to your third RDER Cup. We’ll go ahead and jump right into questions. Go ahead, Dan. Colin, you said a couple weeks ago that sometimes these team events can almost like jolt you into being the player that you know you can be. Is that is that happening this week? And and why do you think that is? Yeah, I mean, look, uh, so far this week, I’ve I’ve hit the ball actually probably better than I have. Um, statistically, I know my numbers ball striking wise look good, but it’s a confidence thing. I think these weeks just pull out the best in you, especially when you have a home crowd like this and and people are cheering you on and you want to just hit great shots. um sometimes your focus gets that much more intentional and when when intentions match kind of what you’re trying to accomplish, you know, it sometimes comes together. So these weeks are are a moment for that and you you want to step up to the plate and um you don’t want to let not just the team down but the the rest of the the country essentially that that are rooting you on. Does it almost feel like you’re playing final round in contention the whole time? Yeah. Yeah. But very different vibes, you know. I think final round in contention, it’s it’s you against everyone else and it’s it’s you really in your own head. I mean, this you’ve got a partner, you’ve got other caddies, you’ve got vice captains, captains, uh wives, like you you’ve got a lot of people supporting you and then that that always helps. Up to Tom on 13. Colin, earlier some of the Europeans were talking about how what happened at Whistling Straits drove them a little bit in Rome. What what happened in Rome, has it has it played into your preparation? Is it give you a little bit more of a chip in your shoulder? Absolutely. Um there was a sour taste leaving Rome. You know, I think that was my first team loss like that I’ve ever had uh ever since, you know, even amateur golf and junior golf. So, it it felt really weird like it wasn’t it wasn’t an okay feeling, you know. Yeah, we’re all out there drinking, having fun on Sunday night, but it just didn’t feel right. you know, we we had a job and we had a goal to accomplish that that week and um we just didn’t pull through. We weren’t hitting the shots when we’re making the putts. Uh and when you’re on in away stage like that, you’ve got to step up a little bit more. Um so yeah, you know, for the past couple years, I wouldn’t say it’s haunted me, but it it definitely, you know, woke me up when I was, you know, on on the verge of making this team to making sure that I was going to give everything I could. you know, we’ve had four weeks essentially since I’ve I’ve been on this team and um a lot of time to really think about what I need to do and what do I need to bring uh to this week. Thank you. Over to Alex on 12. Yeah, Colin, there’s been a lot made about the money thing, but I guess my question is more, do you know why you’re being compensated? Um, no. I look, I think Keegan and the PJ of America have have fought in in certain ways. I think just to, you know, whether it’s a thank you or look, I think the PGA of America and then whoever, you know, whoever’s making a lot of money from the RDER Cup, right, is uh they’re making a lot of money. And I I think on that end, it’s just to to give us an opportunity to either pay our respected teams um because look, the teams behind us, they don’t get the recognition that we do, but they deserve a lot of it that we that we get. Um but also just to give back to our own communities, right? We have a lot of communities back home that sometimes don’t get the recognition that don’t get, you know, the word of mouth um just because we don’t travel to those places that the PJ tour stops on uh every week. So, just more opportunities, I think, for us to to help out people that we care about. A and just to follow up on that, if if you were actually being fairly compensated for the time that you put into this, is $200,000 anywhere close? Don’t trap me in a corner. There there’s no number. There’s it could be zero. It could be $1. It could be who there there isn’t a there isn’t a right or wrong amount. Look, I I think at the end of the day, all 12 of us here playing when we teed up on Friday and before this all started, we just want to win the RDER Cup. We want to win it for ourselves. We want to win it for our country. We want to when we stood out there two days ago and we got speeches from the Nassau Players Club and we got speeches from from the firefighter and his son. I look I I’m not an emotional guy, but like there was emotions and and sometimes it just hits home and uh when you hear that type of stuff and you’re able to bring out that emotion just being able to represent a country like you want to step on that first te and put points on the board. That’s all I’m going to ever remember. Um, so hopefully we, you know, we have a great three days uh coming this weekend down here to seven. Having been a part of so many team events now, I was wondering what still makes you nervous or anxious when you come into weeks like this. Um, I mean, there’s there’s a lot there’s a lot of buildup to these weeks. Uh, you know, I got here late Saturday night just traveling from the West Coast. So, it’s it’s a long week just until we all the way all the way until the first T-shot, right? Um, but I would just say you you want to be on, you know, and I know I haven’t been exactly who I want to be, but I know my my game can still go out there and help my teammates put points on the board. And that’s what you want to do. You want to make those big moment shots and putts and momentum. Um, because out here that matters and then when you have a home crowd, it matters that much more to really use that for your advantage. Over to Mike 6. Um, hey Colin over here. Um, what do you think will be different about the the home crowd advantage that Beth Paige Black and these fans provide as opposed to maybe some of the past RDER Cup sites? Yeah, I mean, whistling obviously there’s still a little bit of COVID, so we had a very heavy home crowd, but it wasn’t as big as as what they say it’s going to be out here. Uh, I’ll be honest, I think it’s kind of tame so far. Uh, Tuesday and Wednesday, I know tomorrow’s going to be pretty bad, but I hope Friday is just absolute chaos. I I’m all for it. Like I think it feeds into into who we are and and and the American players and the American team. Um we want it like we we want to use that to our advantage. I think every sport uses their home crowd to their advantage. And just because we don’t play in a setting like this doesn’t mean the the craziness of what New York and the rest of the country that people are traveling in from um that doesn’t mean we can’t use that to our advantage. I think we really have to tap into that. Um so I hope they they come strong. I mean, watching all these little kids, I know they want autographs, but uh come Friday, I hope they go crazy. Dylan on two. Yeah, you talked about the team events can be kind of a reset. I wonder if any part of that is um playing some of these matches with such talented teammates and if there are any teammates that kind of stick out as, you know, talking trash or pulling something out of you that you you might not week in and week out. um yeah are giving you a hard time. Well, it’s it’s actually been great. The vice captains we we have uh are definitely trying to get into our wallets and in our heads. Um and that’s like something you normally don’t get. You know, I think a lot of us have played a lot of practice rounds, a lot of rounds together at home, not at home, whatever. So, we kind of know the vibe. Like that’s that’s the same. So, we know who’s the goofball, we know who’s the serious guy. We’re all ready to play matches. But it’s the vice captains, I think, that are kind of putting us putting us out there and like giving us a little bit of a nudge. You know, if you need that little nudge to say, “Hey, wake up, you know, even though it’s a Wednesday, even though yesterday, you know, it was a Monday, Tuesday, like these guys are are pushing us in the right direction.” And uh it might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but they’ve they’re able to read everyone on our team and say, “Hey, this guy needs a little bit of a a pickme up and and push you in a little poke.” Um, so I I give a lot of credit to uh Keegan on on his choices for the vice captains because they’ve done a tremendous job so far to to say, “Hey, like let’s let’s go out there.” So, the boundaries are a little bit different this week than any other week. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, the things we’re saying and we’re doing uh don’t normally happen on on a regular Tuesday. Right over here, Mike Ford. Has it been nice to kind of, for the lack of a better term, veg out and focus on this event rather than competing week after week after week, especially the grind that you had over the last few tournaments? Yeah. Um, like I said, there’s a there’s a weird buildup, right? You know, we all went to go play Napa. Um, use that as obviously we wanted to play well and win a Napa, but use it as a buildup. Um, but yeah, like when you’re practicing for something that’s in three, four weeks versus every week, you’re kind of resetting and saying, “How do I need to prep for this event? and how what do I need to do at this golf course? Um, you give yourself that time and that that breath of fresh air some days where you’re like, “Okay, let’s go in tomorrow, reset, do that, and then once you show up here, it’s it’s it’s full go.” You know, you don’t really want to be tweaking too much. You don’t want to be trying to find too many things because when you step on that first tee and you feel your hand shaking and and it’s hard to tee it up, it’s your thought doesn’t really go to like my swing thought that I had on Monday on the range. You know, you really have to figure out how to how to be able to balance those two and use that nervous energy into being able to step up and say, I’m going to hit this, you know, cut off the tree and and find the fairway. Doug, go ahead. This This uh tournament brings out a lot of emotion that sometimes you didn’t know players have of of the somewhat emotionless players you have on your team. I thought you asked this two weeks ago. I did not. Which one would you like to see lose it the most? Which would make you most curious to see what this event does for them? Can you name the motionless players on our team? Kentley, Cameron Young, Harris English. We’ve seen a motion out of Canley here. Yes, you did. Um All right. Throw him out. Okay. I I would love to see Cam Young just throw a massive fist pump in someone’s face. I I would love it. I mean, home state, home home crowd, red, white, and blue. Played on the Junior RDER Cup. I I He’s a fiery competitor. Cam, I I’ve known Cam for a long time. I mean, he’s he’s been very stoic, right? But we’re we’re we’re deep competitors. And whether you see that or not through the TV or through, you know, watching us play, he he wants to whoop some butt. And uh yeah, I I would love I would love to see a nice little putter raise, undercut, fist pump. Just a putter raise. No, no. Combined, you know, a little I I may maybe I don’t know if he’ll he’ll do it, but he didn’t even smile after he won, so I I’m hoping. Fingers fingers crossed. That’s that’s my forecast. We’ll wrap things up over here with Sean. Well, when you say your vice captains are trying to get in your wallet, what does that look like? Like the amount. No, like who is trying to get in your wallet? How are they trying to do? So, SNED Sneds is definitely trying to get in our wallet. Um, KZ is talking smack. Uh, he’s just prop bets. Colin, hit this shot. Make this Yeah, a lot of prop bets. I’ve had a lot of fairway bets, birdie bets. Are you in the red or the blacks are? Uh, depends who. I’m up on Sneds. Not by much. I think Xander Xander’s taking the cake this week. Um, it’s all right. You know, I’m I’m positive on Sns. Sns is the main one that I think we all love to pick on and we love to uh have him as our bank. He’s become the mascot punching bag. Correct. Sounds great. Yeah, it’s it’s wonderful for us. Thanks for your time, Colin. Thanks, everyone.