Collin Morikawa used Scottish Open to find 'answer' for his Open win

Collin Morikawa has spoken about how he overcame “searching for answers” in last year’s Scottish Open to become Open champion the following week.

Collin Morikawa during last year's abrdn Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club. Picture: Mark Runnacles/Getty Images.

On his debut in the Scottish Open, the American finished outside the top 70 after carding rounds of 70-67-71-73 at The Renaissance Club in East Lothian.

But, after “finding an answer” for that disappointing debut effort in the Rolex Series event, Morikawa became a two-time major winner the following week at Royal St George’s.

Shrugging off his disappointing performance on Scottish soil, the 24-year-old shot scores of 67-64-68-66 at the Kent venue to claim the Claret Jug by two shots.

“St George's was,” said Morikawa as he provided an example of heading into a major not being totally sure about his game but then shooting the lights out.

“The Open Championship was weird because I felt like I was actually playing really well. And forget about the Scottish, because the Scottish, I was searching for answers, right?

“I felt like I was swinging well. The US Open was maybe two, three weeks before that and I was hitting the ball well, I felt great with my clubs and everything felt the same with that prep going up to the Scottish, but I knew something was off.

“We always talk about don't blame it on your equipment, don't blame it on this, but like I felt that good about my golf game that I knew something with my irons, something was just off. So I had to go find that answer.

“Thankfully I did, right? So I didn't feel that off, once I was able to switch irons, once I was able to switch the weight in my putter. So I wouldn't say like I felt off before the week, I just needed to find that answer.

“Once I did on Monday, it was smooth sailing or not smooth sailing, but I was really confident stepping into Thursday how it was going to go.”

Morikawa, the world No 2, was speaking ahead of his first appearance of 2022 in this week’s PGA Tour event, the Sentry Tournament of Champions in Hawaii.

A message from the Editor:

Get a year of unlimited access to all of The Scotsman's sport coverage without the need for a full subscription. Expert analysis, exclusive interviews, live blogs, and 70 per cent fewer ads on Scotsman.com - all for less than £1 a week. Subscribe to us today https://www.scotsman.com/subscriptions