Collin Morikawa was unsuccessful in choosing up a victory on the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba. He was barely in rivalry, however when the mud settled on one of many final PGA Tour occasions of the yr, Morikawa still discovered himself on the middle of the story.
Earlier in the week, Golf Channel commentator Trevor Immelman had posited that maybe the explanation Morikawa has been struggling in 2022 — a yr throughout which he has did not secure a win — was due to how troublesome it’s to stay as much as the excessive bar he set for himself early in his profession when he gained 5 of his first 50 PGA Tour occasions and two of his first eight main championships.
Morikawa’s response to the very innocuous remark from Immelman was unusual, and made me assume he had utterly misunderstood what Immelman had mentioned.
“Wow, that’s hard to hear from him,” Morikawa informed Golf Channel. “I could not care much less what he says there as a result of I do not assume that is my bar. I believe I’ve obtained a lot extra to enhance. I’ve been close to final on placing. I do not assume I’ve even completed near being common on placing. If I can simply get my placing to be common, I believe there’s so way more to enhance. I do not know the place that got here from, however that sort of stings there. I do not like to listen to that.
“I don’t know if that was a compliment, I’ll be honest. If he did, maybe it came off wrong from what I heard. For me, I’ve never seen a ceiling. I just want to keep improving. Obviously, we took a couple steps back this year. It’s just trying to get better every day and trying to improve on little things. I expect myself to play well. I set really high goals for myself. It just sucks when they don’t come through.”
Immelman later confirmed that all the factor was in truth a misunderstanding, however between Morikawa’s response, his hiring of a placing coach and his early-week monologue in regards to the plight of getting outdated (Morikawa turns 26 subsequent February), it made me surprise what else was occurring with the two-time main champion.
“It was a lot more stressful this year,” Morikawa mentioned of his 2022. “I’ve simply been sort of making an attempt to determine what was flawed when it was merely simply sort of a physique factor and simply the way in which my physique was shifting. Unfortunately, it took seven, eight months all year long to a minimum of discover that, however that is on me. Everything is on me simply to know what is going on on. I’ve obtained a nice group round me, however that is the most effective factor is that, you already know, I still have to concentrate on what I’m doing.
“I just wasn’t kind of being able to make sure everything was where I wanted it to be. It’s a grind, but that’s what’s great. Even though we are kind of heading towards this offseason, this fall area, I’m putting a lot of pieces together and putting a lot of work in to make sure this kind of next 2023 is going to be [the] best ever.”
To be clear, Morikawa was speaking about the way in which his physique functioned in 2022.
“I think it’s just getting old,” mentioned the 25-year-old. “Yeah, no, it’s just getting old. I mean, man, I drank way more in college than I ever do now, but apparently when you get older, your body just moves differently. I still feel great, like everything feels great, everything moves great, but it’s just not as clean as it was. And the maintenance I have to do now is just a little bit more. It doesn’t mean I need to do anything crazy, I’m not changing anything really, it’s just getting my body to where I need it to be.
“Last yr, I did not actually need to deal with it, however once I look again and you concentrate on how a lot journey I’ve completed over the previous three and a half years, it is a lot. It would not cease. I find it irresistible, however journey takes a toll in your physique and it takes a toll on you and you have got to have the ability to sort of work your approach by that and that is what the most effective athletes are doing.”
It’s clear that there’s frustration from Morikawa that he has been unable to again up his spectacular 2020 and 2021 campaigns with one thing comparable in 2022, and he type of proved Immelman’s level — and to be honest, the identical level many pundits and even gamers have made over time — that when you do not obtain what you as soon as achieved at such a young age, it will possibly put on on you mentally, bodily and emotionally.
As for the golf itself, not a ton modified statistically, which ought to be encouraging to Morikawa. He dropped barely in ball hanging from 2021 (1.62 to 1.47 strokes gained per spherical) however not almost sufficient to be worrisome. He was truly a higher putter in 2022 than he was in 2021, though his quick recreation suffered the most important categorical drop in comparison with every other a part of his recreation.
One attention-grabbing nuance is that whereas Morikawa’s perfect performances and really worst performances had been almost similar to what he did in 2021 (his anticipated wins did drop from 1.97 to 0.94 from 2021 to 2022), his median performances in 2022 had been far worse than they had been in 2021. This, theoretically, should not matter because it pertains to successful (you solely win along with your finest performances anyway), however it would possibly matter in regards to how he feels like he’s taking part in.
The level right here is that Morikawa goes to be tremendous. He’s a high-variance participant, which if you happen to’re intent on gathering a lot of trophies is what you need to be. It would serve him properly mentally and emotionally to grasp that simply because a few tournaments went his approach early in his profession, that does not imply his baseline is anyone who wins three or 4 common occasions and a main yearly. Data Golf had him at 0.20 anticipated majors in 2020, and he gained one; it had him at 0.45 anticipated majors in 2021, and he gained one other. This issues as a result of, whereas he was good, he was not overwhelmingly nice in 2020-2021 but the expectations after successful two majors began to pile up. We would not even be having this dialog if Morikawa was a three-win, no-major man.
If you are taking the lengthy view, wins and losses typically occur randomly, which implies they’ll typically occur in bunches. Just since you win two of your first eight majors does not imply you are the second coming of Tiger Woods. Just since you do not win any of your subsequent 15 does not imply the Korn Ferry Tour is in your future.
Morikawa exceeded each expectations and statistical chances in phrases of successful over the primary few years of his profession. He overachieved. That occurs, however it does not imply a winless yr has modified him as a participant or a competitor even when it will possibly typically really feel that approach.
Are there issues to work on? Sure. Can the iron play get a tad higher? Yes. Does he want to wash up his quick recreation a bit? Absolutely. But if Morikawa continues to play like he did in 2022, he’ll have extra seasons (in phrases of wins) like he skilled in 2021. That can appear counterintuitive, however as we have seen so many instances all through the historical past of golf, this recreation makes completely no sense. If you let it, the game can befuddle even those that have seemingly each reply.