Collin Morikawa, Two Rounds From a Possible Third Major, Is Sticking To the Plan
BROOKLINE, Mass. — Collin Morikawa is all about competing and, as a byproduct, winning.
From Day 1 on the PGA Tour, the now-25-year-old has focused on winning and when asked about the current insurgency by LIV Golf, the two-time major winner scoffs and, while curious about what the new tour will look like, always steers the discussion back to winning and winning majors.
“At the end of the day I'm here to win majors,” Morikawa said in April at a British Open press conference as defending champion. “There's a lot of other things that are on my mind and a lot of goals that I set at the beginning of the year that I look forward to. So far through about five months or four months, I haven't really won, or I haven't won. It's not 'I haven't really won.' I haven't won at all.”
Not since winning that Open at Royal St. George’s last July has Morikawa hoisted a trophy.
A fifth at the Masters and a 55th at the PGA Championship last month got Morikawa no closer to winning another major.
The 4-under 66 posted by Morikawa in Friday’s second round is the first concrete step he has made to win another major, matching the same score in his final round of last year’s Open Championship.
“I think it was a continuation of yesterday,” Morikawa said of his first-round 69. “I just didn't let off steam on the back nine. It was stalling a little bit throughout the back nine. Got a fortunate break on the shot and a shot on 8, and unfortunately, missed the putt, but that kind of kept the round going.”
You need luck to win majors and on the 8th, a par 5 that was clearly reachable by most of the field on Friday, Morikawa got a little luck as he mishit his approach shot but got a break on the kick and the ball released up toward the hole and stopped just five feet from the flagstick.
The eagle putt never touched the hole, but the short comeback put Morikawa in the lead at 5 under.
“I'd say in previous weeks that would be a little worrisome, but this week — everything is matched up, right, so when I hit that putt, I knew exactly what it was going to do,” Morikawa said. “I knew maybe I was going to get a little lucky and catch the left lip, but I just knew the tempo was a little off, and that's been a big thing this week.”
Morikawa recently has added practice strokes to his pre-putt routine and while that has helped him match up his putts, that eagle putt on the 8th just didn’t match up for him.
“It was a couple balls outside the hole, so it wasn't like it
was the easiest putt,” Morikawa said. “I know it was a short putt, but on these putts out here with a lot of slope you've got to match up speeds perfectly, and it just happened to be a bad stroke. So, I'm not too worried about it, really.”
Morikawa is also very confident with his swing, as what has been a slight draw from right to left had been evolving to a fade from left to right.
However, Morikawa decided late last week that he was not going to force a new swing in to his repertoire this week and stayed with the draw, which clearly has paid dividends.
“Pin is on the right; you hit a little cut. Pin is on the left; you hit a little draw,” Morikawa said of the reason for the change to hit both draws and fades consistently. “I think this is just going to hopefully make my iron play and make my game a little bit more well-rounded rather than just hitting a cut. But this week we're just going to work with what we have, and right now it's a little baby draw.”
Now Morikawa finds himself in the lead at the halfway mark with Joel Dahmen.
It’s likely Morikawa has not has as much as a cup of coffee with Dahmen, but none of that will matter because he has defending champion Jon Rahm and Rory McIlroy just one shot back, nipping at his heels.
“I can't really talk about what it would be like to win this one, I've got to focus on tomorrow, I've got to stick to my game plan,“ Morikawa said. “I've got to make sure I don't run out of steam, which I kind of have been through that kind of little stretch after nine holes. I've just got to figure out a way to focus a little bit deeper and really get dialed in for the next 36.”
More U.S. Open Coverage From Morning Read:
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> Scottie Scheffler, World No. 1 and Under the Radar, Is Contending
> Phil Mickelson Shoots 73 Friday, Ending a Chaotic Couple Weeks
> Who Is This Guy? Nick Hardy’s Career Progression Has Been Slow, But He’s In Contention at Brookline
> Little-Known Guys Are Taking a Starring Role In This U.S. Open
> U.S. Open Day 2: Live Scores, Updates
> Rory McIlroy Is One Shot Back With the Mindset That It Feels Like the First Time
> Sergio Garcia Leads Large LIV Contingent Missing the Cut at U.S. Open
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