US PGA Championship: Collin Morikawa on life as a Major champion

Collin Morikawa won the 2020 US PGA Championship.

Reigning US PGA Champion Collin Morikawa on dealing with his Major hangover, Ryder Cup ambitions, and why he decided to sign up for European Tour membership again.

Today’s Golfer’s 2021 Major coverage is brought to you in association with TaylorMade.

Collin Morikawa produced a stunning six-under par 64 on the final day of the 2020 US PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park, including one of the shots of the year to set up a vital eagle, to win his first Major Championship by two shots.

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Having made plenty of history in his career already, the 24-year-old will arrive at Kiawah Island’s Ocean Course looking to become only the third player to successfully defend the US PGA Championship in its strokeplay era and retain the Wanamaker Trophy.

We sat down wth Morikawa to look back on his victory, how he reacted and find out what his goals are for the future. 

Today’s Golfer: How has life changed after becoming a Major winner?

Colling Morikawa: It’s gotten busier, but it’s been amazing. To be called a Major Champion by other guys, by other people, friends, whoever it may be, it’s a good feeling. You know why Majors are circled in their calendars and why I’m going to circle them in my calendar now.

Only Rory McIlroy and Jack Nicklaus were younger winners of the PGA Championship during the strokeplay era. How does it feel to be part of that list?

It’s great company. You know, it’s been crazy, this entire start to my professional career. Any time you’re in the conversation with the greats, Jack, Rory, Tiger, no matter who it is, if you’re in that conversation, you’re doing something well.

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Was there any sense of complacency after the US PGA Championship win?

Yeah, there definitely was. When I sat down right before the Masters (in November) with Rick, my coach, I told him the honest truth; that I got complacent. I was getting lazy. It was just a mental state of coming out ready to play great golf, Thursday through Sunday.

So, I kind of reset that before the Masters. I was able to work on that more throughout December so that by the time this year started, my game felt really, really good.  

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Did you maybe expect too much of yourself?

My standards obviously went up and I think that’s going to happen with anyone, but I just thought it was going to come too easy and I thought the off days were going to be slightly better than they actually turned out to be.

That doesn’t mean that I was getting lazy practising or getting lazy prepping for the event, but the way I was thinking through shots wasn’t as clear as it had been and as it needs to be. I wasn’t as creative with my shots. It’s all a learning experience. It was a few months of just not great play, but I learned a lot from it. I know what to fix and I now know how to not get in that spot again. 

You’ve got a great chance of making the Ryder Cup this year. Where does that rank on your list of goals this season?

The Ryder Cup is really important obviously. To hopefully be able to make that team is a huge goal on my list for 2021. But there’s a lot of golf in between, and there’s so many guys from the US who can make that team. You know, I’ve got to focus on where I am in the present and then just hopefully play some good golf.

Europe have been the dominant force in The Ryder Cup over the last few years. What’s your thoughts on that, and have you spoken to Steve Stricker about the role you could play in the team?

Yeah, I was able to play a practice round with him, actually before I won the US PGA Championship, I played with him that week. I haven’t had a ton of experience, and there’s many other guys that you can ask that question to that would have possibly a better answer, but from what I’ve played in amateur golf, Walker Cup, Palmer Cup, to me it comes down to a lot of chemistry.

You look at the Europeans – and this is a great example – when we were playing at the DP World Tour (Championship), we were all hanging out after, obviously socially distant and wearing our masks, but everyone was enjoying it. Everyone is part of a very tight-knit group and I think the guys in the US, that’s a big thing for us, to have good team chemistry.

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Going back to the goals you’ve set yourself for this year, how much have they changed from last year and the success you had?

I wouldn’t say it’s changed. I just set new goals. I talked them out with my coach, Rick, before the New Year and just sat down and really had a good conversation on what we want to accomplish this year. There’s a lot going on this year. There’s a lot of events and a lot that I want to play well at. So, it’s not like goals have changed. They’ve just gotten better.

You are one of a handful of PGA Tour stars to take up European Tour membership. Do you see yourself as a world player?

If you look not just at the history of golf but you look at some of the best players, you see that their game travels. There’s so much focus obviously for myself on the PGA Tour and the US, but I want my game to travel around the world as much as possible.

When I’m given opportunities to play on the European Tour, I need to feel like I can win. I want to feel comfortable in the setting and I feel like my head and my game can travel. So why not be a world player?

The thing is, I enjoy traveling. People might say that I’m 24 and this is almost two years of travelling for me, but I love it. I love going to new places. This is what I want to do for the rest of my life.

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What you need to know about US PGA Champion Collin Morikawa

– A former amateur No.1, Morikawa made his pro debut on the PGA Tour in July 2019 and went on to make 22 consecutive cuts, a feat bettered only by Tiger Woods at 25. 

– Morikawa won twice on the PGA Tour in the space of a year, first at the 2019 Barracuda Championship and then the 2020 Workday Charity Open almost a year later. 

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– On just his second-ever start in a Major, Morikawa won the 2020 PGA Championship by two shots.

– In February, he became only the second player after Tiger Woods to win a WGC and a Major Championship before the age of 25. Victory at the WGC-Workday Championship catapulted him to a career-high fourth in the World Ranking. 

– In 40 events as a pro on the PGA Tour, Morikawa has had 13 top 10s and won four times. That’s virtually the same winning percentage he had in college when he won five times in 48 starts.

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