The Cal 100: No. 36 -- Collin Morikawa
No. 36: Collin Morikawa
Cal Sports Connection: Morikawa was a four-time All-American golfer for the Bears and won the Pac-12 championship as a senior in 2019
Claim to Fame: A five-time winner as a pro, Morikawa's victories at the PGA Championship and the Open in Britain made him the first golfer since Bobby Jones in 1926 to win two different majors, each in his first appearance.
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Collin Morikawa was himself last week in Detroit.
And it was an impressive reminder of how good he can be on the golf course.
Morikawa didn’t win the Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit— losing to Rickie Fowler in a playoff on Sunday — but he shot 24 under par over 72 holes, assembling 21 birdies, two eagles and just one bogey.
This was the player we saw on such a regular basis in his first three years on the PGA Tour after graduating from Cal in 2019.
Collin Morikawa tees off.
Photo by Kyle Terada, USA Today
Morikawa, 26, lands at No. 36 in The Cal 100 after a start to his professional career that has not been undone by a surprising two-year victory drought.
Consider these remarkable highlights:
— A four-time All-American and Pac-12 champion at Cal, Morikawa needed just six pro events to win for the first time on the PGA Tour in the summer of 2019.
— That victory was part of a streak of 22 consecutive tournaments to open his career without missing a cut. That was the second-longest stretch ever, trailing only Tiger Woods, who went 25 events as a pro before missing the cut.
—In August of 2020, playing the PGA Championship for the first time, Morikawa made a 50-foot chip shot for a birdie on No. 14 at Harding Park in San Francisco then a spectacular tee shot on No. 16 to fashion a final-round 64 — matching the lowest score on the final day at the event to win. He joined Jack Nicklaus (1963), Woods (1999) and Rory McIlroy (2012) as the only 23-year-olds to win the PGA in his debut.
Collin Morikawa kisses the Claret Jug after winning the 2021 Open.
Photo by Peter van den Berg, USA Today
— A year later, at Royal St. George at Sandwich, England, Morikawa shot 15 under par, including 31 consecutive holes without a bogey, to win the Open and pocket a $2 million first-prize. By doing so, he became first player since Bobby Jones in 1926 to win two different majors in his debut appearance.
(Think about that: In the past three paragraphs, Morikawa's name has kept company with Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus and Bobby Jones.)
— By December of 2021, Morikawa had ascended to No. 2 in the world rankings. At Nassau, Bahamas, he successfully proposed to long-time girlfriend Katherine Zhu on the beach, then surged to a five-stroke lead over the field entering the final round of the World Hero Challenge. With a win, he would be No. 1. But after shooting a 64 in the third round, he blew up to 76 on Sunday and skidded to a tie for fifth place.
Morikawa never made it to No. 1, and currently resides at No. 18. Regarded as one of the planet’s elite iron players, he hasn’t won since the British Open — his fifth professional victory.
On the other hand, he hasn’t exactly scuffled for two years. He has top-5 finishes in all four majors (among 19 total finishes among the top-5) and contributed to victories at the 2021 Ryder Cup and the 2022 Presidents Cup.
In ’21 he also became the first American to win the European Tour Race, making five birdies over the final seven holes to beat Rory McIlroy at the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.
At the Tokyo Olympics that year, Morikawa finished in a seven-way tie for third place, but couldn’t win the playoff he needed to secure a bronze medal.
He has endorsement deals with Adidas, TaylorMade, KPMG, Zurich Insurance, U.S. Bank, Therabody, Cadillac, Grant Thornton and Omega.
And those don’t factor into his career golf earnings, now more than $24 million.
The money isn't what motivates Morikawa, who appears calm on the outside, but is a competitor.
“Winning's everything,” he said after the playoff loss Sunday. “We're going to go fight for it, we're going to go earn it somehow come the rest of the season. It's kind of the old Collin hopefully back."
Cover photo of Collin Morikawa by Kyle Terada, USA Today
Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo