While Collin Morikawa is probably not one of the big favourites to win the PGA Championship, it would not be a huge surprise if he added a third major title to his résumé at Quail Hollow this week.
Collin Morikawa is one of the more intriguing players on the PGA Tour. On his day, there are not many better ball-strikers than the 28-year-old. And of course, he flew out of the blocks to win two major titles in his first eight starts.
However, Morikawa has only won once on the PGA Tour since his Open Championship triumph in 2021. And his inability to get across the line this year has been one of the notable storylines from the opening months of the season.
Morikawa came in for a lot of criticism after not speaking to the media following the end of the Arnold Palmer Invitational, where he finished second to Russell Henley.
The decision Collin Morikawa made ahead of the PGA Championship which surprised Johnson Wagner
His game appears to be moving in the right direction again. He also finished second at The Sentry at the start of the year. Nevertheless, Morikawa decided that something needed to change.
Morikawa recently confirmed the decision to split with long-time caddie JJ Jakovac, with Joe Greiner replacing him on the bag. Greiner had previously worked with Max Homa, and was caddying for Justin Thomas for his victory at the RBC Heritage.
But speaking on Fried Egg Golf, Johnson Wagner suggested that he could not believe Morikawa’s decision as he discussed his current drought.
“It’s like me playing on the PGA Tour. There’s very few places that I could win, and I took advantage of those few places. Collin Morikawa is like that at major championship venues. I don’t love Oakmont for him, I don’t love Quail Hollow for him,” he said.
“And you look at a Ludvig [Aberg], there’s no golf course that doesn’t fit him as you said. I think he could get a little better with his wedges, I think he could get a little better around the greens. We’re still halfway through his second full year on the PGA Tour, so I’m going to give him a little bit of a break. But for Collin, you bring up some really nice points and it is concerning, and what’s more concerning is the caddie split right in the middle of major championship season. I didn’t understand it, I saw him at the Zurich Classic, JJ’s awesome, that was mind-blowing to me that he would make that switch leading into the PGA.”
How Collin Morikawa has performed at Quail Hollow during his career
Morikawa is definitely going to have his work cut out if he is going to win at Quail Hollow. Rory McIlroy has an amazing record at the North Carolina course, while Scottie Scheffler and Bryson DeChambeau will go into the second major of the year off the back of victories.
Morikawa also does not have an amazing record at Quail Hollow so far. He had made two previous appearances at the Truist Championship, missing the cut in 2023. He finished tied for 16th one year later as McIlroy left the rest of the field behind.
Morikawa did win two points from three matches at the 2022 Presidents Cup, but that may not count for a great deal in the coming days.
He will be hoping however, that the change of caddie proves to be exactly what he needs.
Receive exclusive golf news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
