Collin Morikawa has opened up on the real reasons why he split with his caddie JJ Jakovac.
Morikawa has actually played well on the PGA Tour this season, but he is still winless since the Zozo Championship in October 2022.
Morikawa officially parted with long-term caddie JJ Jakovac earlier this month before linking up with Max Homa‘s former caddie Joe Greiner.
The 28-year-old is a two-time major champion, but he has found it tough going on tour over the past 18 months or so.
Morikawa is well-known as being one of the best iron players on tour, due to his repeatable motion.
And now with a new caddie on the bag and a fresh start, he will be looking to really kick on and get that all important win.
Collin Morikawa says why he really split with his caddie JJ Jakovac
Morikawa and Jakovac were a partnership throughout the two-time major winner’s entire PGA Tour career.
That was until the 28-year-old called time on their player/caddie relationship.
Morikawa explained the details behind his decision during an appearance on the Dan on Golf podcast with Dan Rapaport.
He said, “Well, I mean first off, it doesn’t take away anything that JJ and I have done over the last six years. From the very beginning, he has caddied for me every single tournament, I think he skipped one tournament for the birth of his second boy. I just want to first thank him, because you can’t take away any of that. What we accomplished, our relationship, our friendship, that doesn’t just go away because of what has happened.
“But addressing why I split up with him, essentially is because sometimes things are just not feeling right. When people look at it from a micro perspective and think Collin is playing great, he’s contending, he’s trying to close out tournaments, but sometimes on the golf course things just don’t feel right. When you look back at it, it’s a partnership, it’s a team effort, and I think for both of us, I take ownership on part of it and I think he takes ownership as well. When you’re out there you want to be vibing really, really well, you want everything to be out there, you don’t want to be holding back. I think we were both holding back in a way, where we just weren’t vibing.
“When you look at how I played earlier on in my career, I was having a lot of fun and smiling a lot. There was a sense of enjoyment and I think for both of us, the stress was kind of building a little bit on decision making, on certain little things, and unfortunately it got to a point where I had to make a change. Sometimes you need a little switch up and that’s where it came to be.”
Morikawa on why it felt weird employing Homa’s ex-caddie
The 28-year-old now has Greiner on the bag on a permanent basis.
Morikawa explained why it felt weird to him when he employed Homa’s former caddie.
He said, “They split up, and he started caddying for JT. I’ve known Joe just simply through Max. I’ve played a lot with Max, he has been one of my best friends out on tour. So going down this path was a little weird in a way, I had to clear some things up in my head. I did talk to Max just to kind of tell him what I was doing.“
That’s understandable from Morikawa, and he will probably get the same phone-call from another tour pro about Jakovac now.
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