Collin Morikawa won his first PGA Tour event in two-and-a-half years at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am this weekend.
Morikawa won eight times between 2019 and 2023, but his game had completely fallen off recently.
Some experts even raised concerns that the two-time major champion might never win on the PGA Tour again.
Morikawa has now ended that narrative with a one-shot victory over Min Woo Lee in the first Signature Event of the 2026 season.
However, the 29-year-old must not rest on his laurels because there remains a glaring issue with his game.
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Do you think Collin Morikawa will win a major in 2026?
He was back to his old self at Pebble Beach…
Collin Morikawa must fix his putting if he wants to win regularly
Morikawa has always been known for his elite iron game, and it was at its absolute best at Pebble Beach.
He led the 80-player field in strokes gained approach (+2.38) and strokes gained tee-to-green (+3.16), according to Data Golf.
However, Morikawa actually lost strokes (-0.02) putting at Pebble Beach, which raises concerns about the replicability of his success.
If he needs to be the best in the field from tee to green to win by just one stroke, then it’s unlikely to happen often.
So, while he should enjoy his long-awaited victory, Morikawa needs to improve his putting if he wants to become a serial winner again.
Collin Morikawa will return to the top 10 in OWGR
Morikawa’s victory at Pebble Beach will give him a significant boost in the Official World Golf Ranking.
He will remain a long way from world number one Scottie Scheffler, but at least he will return to the top 10.
Morikawa had fallen all the way to 19th in the rankings after disappointing performances at the Sony Open and the Phoenix Open.
Now, he can realistically target Justin Rose’s third-place position if he continues to play well leading up to The Masters in April.
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