Collin Morikawa is looking to break his run of not winning on the PGA Tour and follow Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas in getting the monkey off their back in recent weeks.
Morikawa is teeing it up at the Zurich Classic alongside Kurt Kitayama and while it would mean a win as a duo, it would still break the near two-year hoodoo.
As it stands after round one, Morikawa and Kitayama are eleven under par and firmly in contention, albeit they are three shots shy of record setting duo Isaiah Salinda and Kevin Velo.
Still, with the fourballs format changing to foursomes for round two, things can quickly change and Morikawa knows that both he and Kitayama are well placed.
And according to Morikawa himself, there is one element of the game that is absolutely crucial to him and Kitayama if they are to win.
Collin Morikawa says what needs to happen if he’s to win The Zurich Classic
With Collin Morikawa so desperately trying to win for the first time since 2023, he’ll be more than aware that things need to come together nicely to get over the line.
That means that solid playing as a pair is required, while tough iron shots and accuracy off the tee will also be key.
However, for Morikawa, it is on the greens where things need to happen for he and Kitayama.
“It was solid. We both had our issues on a couple holes here and there, but really the only one stressful hole we had was 15, and I was well out of the hole after being in the fairway, and Kurt — it should have been an easy two-putt, turned into a great two-putt. But look, in this format, you just have to feed off each other’s energy,” Morikawa said summing up the opening round.
“We talk about ham-and-egging, but we just played really solid golf, and when we were in trouble, one of us, the other one had stress-free birdie looks or pars. We played really solid golf, and we just have to continue that the next few days.”
Moving on to his history in the event and starting slow, Morikawa then referenced just how important the putter is and as it stands, he’s happy to see things dropping.
“I think so,” Morikawa replied when asked about the importance of a fast start. “My past history here I’ve gotten off to very slow starts, like 3-, 4-under through 9 and you try and turn on the burners at the end.
“Today it was nice to start off strong, get a few in and honestly just see a few putts roll in for us. For us I think a lot of it comes down to putting, and we saw a lot go kind of centre cup, which is nice.”
Collin Morikawa’s 2025 PGA Tour season so far
It’s a long time for a player like Collin Morikawa to go without winning but as we’ve seen with other top stars like Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth, things can soon go on longer than expected.
Morikawa is too good to not win again soon and to be fair to him, his form in late 2024 and then into 2025 has been good.
| Tournament | Finish |
| The Sentry | 2nd |
| AT&T | T17 |
| Genesis | T17 |
| Arnold Palmer | 2nd |
| The Players | T10 |
| The Masters | T14 |
| RBC Heritage | T54 |
That being said, he’s not got over the line just yet and after coming so close at the Arnold Palmer, it remains to be seen if he can get back to a winning position again.
Still, 11 under after one round is more than acceptable at the Zurich and if he and Kitayama can keep things going into round two, there’s every chance they succeed.
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