Just mere weeks ago, Collin Morikawa was in the middle of some avoidable drama. After his tough loss to Russell Henley in the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Morikawa stormed off without answering questions from the press. “I get it. Like, you guys are there to figure out how we played and how things went, but in my perspective… I just didn’t want to talk to anyone, and I think that’s fair to myself, you know,” Morikawa explained vehemently about the situation later while competing at the PLAYERS Championship.

His action and subsequent response were heavily criticized by the likes of Brandel Chamblee, Rocco Mediate and Paul McGinley. But the unflappable Morikawa refused to bow down before anyone, stating, “It might have been a little bit harsh that I don’t owe anyone, but I don’t owe anyone.” But he does owe it to himself.

Collin Morikawa has had a tough few events on the PGA Tour since the PLAYERS, where he incensed the media fraternity. He struggled at the RBC Heritage, where he finished T54 and got cut at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans along with Kurt Kitayama after a disappointing second round of golf. His PGA Championship was no better, as he registered a T50 finish.

When he has made the cut at a major, this would be his worst finish in 10 tries. So it was understandable that he had a very low opinion of his golf right now. “Pathetic f***ing golf.” This was before his venting session with his caddie Joe Grenier and coach Rick Sessinghaus. “You just have to talk things through. I don’t think people do that enough with their team around them. They kind of internalize it. Sometimes you just got to let out your frustration.” Morikawa explained later.

It has been nearly one and a half years since the Los Angeles native won a title on the PGA Tour. But he has come close on many occasions, finishing second in four events in 2024 and 2025, including the 2024 Memorial Tournament and Tour Championship. So Collin Morikawa’s frustration is justified. “It’s small things. Because I know this game is so — everything is just by the thread of a needle, right? Small margins could mean big results. At the end of the day, I can live with bad golf. But bad golf to me is poor swings, you know, and poor execution.” The 2020 PGA Championship winner professed.

“I set high standards for myself, and when you don’t reach them, sometimes you go a little crazy. But sometimes it wakes you up. For me, at the end of the day, it’s like, how do I just wake up a little bit more to be firing? You can see the competitiveness in Scottie, right? You can really see that through. That’s what I need to kind of pull out of myself again, because that’s what I had when I first came out.” Morikawa added. If he is looking for a break in fortune, he has picked the right person to model it after. Scheffler came into the season after a freak Christmas injury caused him to miss the entire first month.

Collin Morikawa then registered a T14 at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and a T25 at the WM Phoenix Open. Good results, but not the kind of results Scheffler is used to producing. But he stayed on and persevered, working through the whole process, which culminated in back-to-back titles on the PGA Tour, including the 2025 PGA Championship.

Morikawa, on the other hand, started the season strong. He finished runner-up at the Sentry and registered two T17 finishes at the Pebble Beach and Genesis Invitational before going runner-up again at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Since then, Morikawa has failed to crack the top 8 at any event and even registered a failed cut and two above-50 finishes on the PGA Tour. The misery was compounded when he was flagged at Quail Hollow.

Collin Morikawa in trouble at Quail Hollow

The PGA Tour had created a Speed of Play Working Group’ just a few months back that will work alongside the PGA TOUR Player Advisory Council (PAC) and PAC Subcommittees based on recommendations from the fans. The Tour has also revised their rules surrounding the pace of play.

One of the changes in rules was that a group or individual players will receive an official warning if and when the Rules Committee determines they are starting to fall behind or are out of position. This comes as soon as they identify it and will be given only once during a round. And the first target of this rule. Justin Thomas and Collin Morikawa were in the same tee group on days 1 and 2. Phil Casey, who is a PA Golf correspondent, reported, “Thomas/Morikawa warned for slow play according to on-course reporter—and not happy about it.”

And Morikawa was incensed. I want to know why I’m slow. If you’re slow, you know you’re slow. If you don’t know, then there’s an issue.” The American golfer stated. That warning was another one in a series of tough breaks for Morikawa across the PGA Tour. He ended up finishing T50, carding 70, 72, 74 and 72 across the four days, never really hitting the accelerator when needed.

What do you think of Collin Morikawa’s performance at the 2025 PGA Championship? Can he recover and win a 7th PGA Tour title this season?