PGA Tour players are the best golfers in the world and to get to that level takes time, patience and practice but even the best, like Collin Morikawa, can fall by the wayside at times it seems.
Morikawa is still searching for a first PGA Tour win since the ZOZO in 2023.
He is one of the big names at this week’s Rocket Classic and on paper, he should be right up there contending when the weekend rolls around.
However, a poor putting performance in round one saw Morikawa down in 66th after the opening day and already some seven shots back of the leaders.
Morikawa has once again changed caddie this week but instead of laying the blame at anyone else’s feet, the American has admitted his putting woes are very much on him.
Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty ImagesCollin Morikawa makes telling admission about his putting this season
Collin Morikawa is one of the best players in the world and has been for some time.
However, his agonising loss at the Arnold Palmer this year seems to have knocked him back a bit and according to the man himself, his putting is simply not up to scratch.
“I’ve been so focused on hitting my irons better that I haven’t put enough honestly time into putting. The last couple weeks haven’t been great, but they haven’t felt as bad,” Morikawa admitted.
“Today was just, you know, nothing starting online, and that’s tough when your speed’s a little bit off, not starting online. You’re just essentially wishing, and not ideal for a course like this where you’ve got to take it low.”
Asked if it was to do with the green reading, Morikawa quickly shut that down and suggested it’s more to do with his actual putting stroke.
“Yeah, I’ve got a buddy this week, he plays. But for the most part it’s not the green reading that’s the issue, it’s more the actual stroke. Before it might have been both and now it’s like I feel like I’m reading ’em fine, it’s just whether I can actually start it and have it with decent speed.”
Collin Morikawa’s time will come again on the PGA Tour
Clearly, Morikawa is battling with a few issues in his golf game right now and that is evident with this putting issue and the constant caddie changes.
However, he is simply too good a player for this rut to last much longer.
Justin Thomas showed the way this season by breaking his own barren spell and given how well Morikawa has played over the course of 18 months now, his time will come as well.
As it stands, Morikawa will be feeling the frustration and as always in golf, any minor issues get magnified.
But eventually, he’ll get that win and from there, it’s hard to see him not adding at least one more major to the two he has already collected.
