Collin Morikawa and Chris Gotterup are currently on two completely different trajectories as far as their respective careers are concerned.
Morikawa, who just turned 29, has really struggled over the past couple of years on the PGA Tour.
He is without a win since October 2023, having started his PGA Tour career in such sensational fashion.
Do you think Collin Morikawa will ever win on the PGA Tour again?
Morikawa is without a victory since October 2023…
Morikawa had already won two majors by the summer of 2021, as well as five PGA Tour events, but he has added just one regular tournament victory to his résumé since then.
Meanwhile, Gotterup has gone from strength to strength since winning his second PGA Tour event last summer at the Genesis Scottish Open.
The 26-year-old followed that up with a top-three finish at The Open Championship and he recorded his third career victory at the Sony Open in Hawaii last month.
Gotterup could well be the PGA Tour’s next superstar, due to his exceptional talent and thrilling playing style.
And on the flip-side, Morikawa’s days at the top of the game could well be numbered.
Bizarre Collin Morikawa mistake highlighted by Chris Gotterup
Morikawa missed the cut at the Sony Open – his first PGA Tour event of the season.
The 29-year-old’s game is a long way from where it needs to be right now and the really concerning thing is that it’s not just one element that has been letting him down.
Morikawa’s stats in 2025 make for really grim reading.
He was ranked outside the top 110 in strokes gained around the greens and ended up in 156th position in strokes gained putting.
The two-time major champion also only recorded four top-10 finishes in 21 events, with just one of those coming after March.
His horrific form during the final five or six months of the PGA Tour season made his inclusion in the US Ryder Cup team truly mind-boggling.
Keegan Bradley named Morikawa as one of his six captain’s picks and chose to ignore Gotterup, in spite of his terrific run of form throughout the summer.
Gotterup was far more suited to Bethpage Black than Morikawa, given his prodigious distance off the tee.
Unsurprisingly, the 29-year-old struggled desperately at Bethpage, losing two and halving one of his three matches, as the Europeans won the contest 15-13 in the end.
And now Gotterup has made Bradley’s decision to pick Morikawa look even worse.
Keegan Bradley will regret picking Collin Morikawa over Chris Gotterup
Gotterup won his first PGA Tour event of 2026, recorded a top-20 in his second outing and was leading after the first round of his third tournament of the season at the WM Phoenix Open.
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His sparkling opening round 63 in Phoenix was yet further evidence that he is on another stratosphere to Morikawa right now.
Meanwhile, the man from Los Angeles posted a round of one-over par 72.
Everything Gotterup does right now looks incredibly easy on the eye, while Morikawa is not only struggling, but he’s making things more difficult for himself by overthinking every single shot.
It is fair to argue that the US would have won the Ryder Cup, had Bradley picked Gotterup rather than Morikawa.
Bradley made the so-called ‘safe’ decision by picking Morikawa for the US Ryder Cup.
However, the ironic thing is that selecting Gotterup instead of Morikawa would have actually been the safer play, certainly the smarter one.
The contrasting performances of both players during the start of the 2026 PGA Tour season have made Bradley’s Ryder Cup decision look even worse.
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