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Colin Morikawa on Augusta, Tiger, and Why Two Majors Is Just the Beginning
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Colin Morikawa on Augusta, Tiger, and Why Two Majors Is Just the Beginning Go to https://kachava.com and use code WINGO for 15% off your first order. This episode is sponsored by Quince. Free shipping and 365-day returns at Quince.com/wingo Colin Morikawa is 29 years old. He has two major championships. He was the first player since Tiger Woods to win a major and a WGC event before the age of 25. And when Trey Wingo asked him what comes next — what is enough — his answer was immediate and unambiguous. More. The answer is always more. This is the full conversation. What the Travelers Does Right Morikawa opens by explaining what he genuinely loves about the Travelers Championship — and it has nothing to do with the course rating or the purse size. Pizza and ice cream on the range. Umbrellas and chairs for caddies. The dining room stays open late. The family atmosphere. Coming off the grind of the US Open at Shinnecock, this is the week players actually look forward to. He uses the same line Trey has heard from every player he spoke to at TPC River Highlands — the Travelers knows who it is and embraces it. Like Harbour Town the week after the Masters. A breather. A welcome one. Shinnecock and the USGA His take on how the USGA set up Shinnecock is clean and direct. Show a fan the final score without showing them a single shot — five under par wins by two strokes, three players finish under par — and they would call it a great US Open. That is the test. The USGA passed it. He remembers the era when setups were getting out of hand — watering greens between groups at the 2004 US Open, courses pushed past difficult into genuinely unfair. That era is over. They have found their identity and they are executing it well. The Wyndham Clark Situation Morikawa's reaction to the crowd behavior at Shinnecock toward Wyndham Clark is measured but pointed. It did not add up. He is an American playing on American soil. He has won the US Open before. Morikawa spent significant time with Wyndham on the Olympic team and calls him a fantastic guy. He understands that sports fans need someone to root against — but the level of hostility at Shinnecock surprised him. He gives Wyndham full credit for playing through it and calls his performance amazing under the circumstances. He also adds something worth noting about Wyndham's putter — he cannot think of another player who has putted this well over this long a stretch and had it make this dramatic a difference in their results. Eleven under at the Byron Nelson when everyone was watching Scotty and Si Woo Kim. Two US Opens. An extended hot streak that has made him nearly unbeatable when the putter is on. The New PGA Tour Structure Morikawa read the Rolapp announcement and his single favorite element is simple — when you have a PGA Tour card you know exactly where you are playing. The uncertainty ends. The waiting game ends. Whether Championship Series or Challenger Series every player knows what they are competing for and against whom. That is a fundamental improvement over what exists now. He loves the regular season champion concept for the same reason. A player can dominate for five months and lose the FedEx Cup in one bad week. That disconnect has always bothered him. Acknowledging the regular season champion separately from the playoff format is the right call. And when the conversation turns to Pine Valley, Seminole, and Cypress Point as potential tour championship venues — his eyes light up. That is the juice. That is the buzz. People get excited about courses they have never seen. The Walker Cup at Cypress Point a few years ago was appointment viewing. Bandon Dunes for the US Amateur generated the same energy. Those courses create moments that traditional tour venues cannot. He loves everything about it. Playing Augusta on a Bad Back This is the most revealing part of the conversation. Morikawa played Augusta National this year with a back injury that made him uncertain about every step he took. Not the swinging — the walking. Every time he moved he did not know if something was going to give out. He never considered withdrawing. He wanted to compete. He wanted to find a way. Augusta suited him oddly well given the circumstances — the slopes let him work around the golf course in a way that minimized the physical demands. He managed it hole by hole. And then on the 12th hole in the final round, after grinding and surviving and saying nothing about what he was dealing with, he turned to his caddy and said four words. Let's do something special. Every putt started dropping. Birdies started coming. The mental battle he had been fighting all week turned in his favor in a single stretch of holes. He calls it more mental than physical — and says sometimes you just find a way. That is the competitor he is and has always been. The Tiger Comparison First player since Tiger Woods to win a major and a WGC event before the age of 25. When Trey puts that in front of him — what does it mean to hear your name in that sentence? It means you are doing something right. He is careful not to overweight it. Early in his career he admits he cared too much about living in that comparison, about staying in that realm. When he had a few bad tournaments it felt like something was wrong because the bar he had set for himself was impossibly high. Mark O'Meara's advice recalibrated him — mellow out the bottoms, enjoy the highs, stay present in the moments. Now when he hears the Tiger comparison it motivates him rather than pressuring him. He wants a long career. He believes he can keep competing at the highest level. And he feels like he is just getting started. What Comes Next More majors. Starred and highlighted in his calendar. He knows it takes a great week, the right bounces, the right conditions, the shots falling at the right moments. He gives himself a chance on Sunday and trusts that the results will follow. He cannot be picky about which majors yet. That changes when he has won all of them. Until then — every one is on the list. Pebble Beach 2027 for the US Open is circled. He won there in 2019. He knows what that golf course demands when the USGA sets it up for a major versus how it plays for the Pro Am. Completely different. Firmer. Faster. Rougher. He is not concerned about the scoring numbers at the Pro Am — that is a different test. The 2027 US Open test is one he has solved before. He wants to solve it again. Two majors. A bad back at Augusta. A Tiger comparison. A long career ahead. And an answer to the question of what is enough that never changes. More. Always more. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. 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