Collin Morikawa has hit 52-of-54 greens so far this week at Kapalua, a sign that his ball-striking is on fire.
How does Collin Morikawa win The Sentry? By invoking Tiger Woods’ mentality
Collin Morikawa talked about what he has to do to win this week at Kapalua, a place where he has had plenty of success.
Jack Milko has been playing golf since he was five years old. He has yet to record a hole-in-one, but he did secure an M.A. in Sports Journalism from St. Bonaventure University.
Another sign? Morikawa gained 4.010 strokes on approach during Saturday’s third round, in which he shot an 11-under 62. Remarkably, this outpaced his ball-striking round in 2024, as he gained 3.491 strokes approaching the green during the first round of the Memorial — where he ultimately lost to Scottie Scheffler by a stroke.
Yet, despite this impressive performance thus far, Morikawa still trails Hideki Matsuyama by one going into the final round of The Sentry.
He has not won professionally since the 2023 ZOZO Championship in Japan, but he did have numerous close calls throughout 2024. His T-3 at Augusta National comes to mind. So does his T-4 at the PGA Championship.
So how does Morikawa overcome Matsuyama and begin 2025 with an emphatic victory? By invoking Tiger Woods and his mentality.
“I want to win, but that’s not the mindset, right, it’s, I’m going to focus on every shot and I’m going to put in as much as I can into every shot,” Morikawa explained.
“You look back at Tiger, he did that every single week. I think if I asked myself, did I do that the past six years, every time, probably not, you know? But it’s hard to do that, but that’s what I’m going to do going into this year, saying, you know, I’ve got four days, let’s see what I can do.”
Through three days, Morikawa has done everything that he can to remain focused. But he also worked tirelessly through the off-season, practicing his game to ready himself for 2025.
“It’s nice to have it click together,” Morikawa said.
“I told myself — and I know I’ve had good results out here — I told myself, the work I’ve put in in the off-season does not mean I’m going to come out here and play well. It doesn’t mean you’re immediately going to finish top 10, top 5, have a chance to win. But it’s nice to see the things that I’ve been working on continue in and be able to put it all together and shoot some scores in a tournament setting.”
Considering the wind will not blow at Kapalua once again on Sunday, Morikawa will have to go ridiculously low to fend off Matsuyama and the rest of the field. But he cannot get too far ahead of himself. He cannot get greedy either, which plagued him at The Masters a year ago. Instead, he has to take it one shot at a time, stay in the moment, and take what the course gives him — just as Tiger did throughout his career.
Surely, this golf course will give him plenty of birdie opportunities, but Morikawa has to take them one at a time.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Follow him on X @jack_milko.
