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Collin Morikawa: Young Talent Has Extremely Bright Future

By Tim Letcher

HONOLULU, HAWAII - JANUARY 09: Collin Morikawa of the United States reacts to his par on the sixth green during the first round of the Sony Open in Hawaii at the Waialae Country Club on January 09, 2020 in Honolulu, Hawaii. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)
HONOLULU, HAWAII - JANUARY 09: Collin Morikawa of the United States reacts to his par on the sixth green during the first round of the Sony Open in Hawaii at the Waialae Country Club on January 09, 2020 in Honolulu, Hawaii. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images) /
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Collin Morikawa has already lived up to some of his hype. Just 23 years old, the future is extremely bright for the talented young star.

Collin Morikawa came to the PGA Tour with a sparkling amateur resume that seemed to indicate that he would be a terrific professional. But even Morikawa could not have predicted just how much success he would have in such a short amount of time.

Morikawa, who was ranked as the number one ranked amateur golfer in the world at one point, has a hugely successful collegiate career at the University of California. He was a three-time All-American at Cal and was named the National Player of the Year by Golfweek magazine in 2018.

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After graduating in 2019, Morikawa brought his talents to the PGA Tour, where he was given a Special Temporary Member status. And boy, did he ever take advantage of that opportunity.

In just his eighth professional start, Morikawa did what some players wait an entire career to do – he won. Morikawa claimed the title at the Barracuda Championship, which uses the Modified Stableford Scoring System, by scoring +14 points on Sunday to overtake Troy Merritt by three points.

Morikawa won in just his eighth PGA Tour start, and he immediately propelled himself into the playoffs. He was able to advance to the BMW Championship and ultimately finished 59th in the FedEx Cup standings, despite playing in just nine events.

This season, Morikawa hoped to build on his success. He has been able to do that, although he has had mixed results so far this season. He has made 11 starts and has played the weekend in all 11 of those events. Morikawa has three top 10s so far this season but has yet to seriously contend in any of those 11 events.

Morikawa tied for seventh in this year’s Sentry Tournament of Champions. He tied for ninth in the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March, and tied for 10th in September’s Safeway Open.

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He does have four other top 25 finishes this season, but his lack of being in contention in any event, at least on Sunday, is a bit concerning. However, Morikawa is still just 23 years old so there’s not doubt that his best golf is still in front of him.

Morikawa has a ton of talent and he has proven that he can play with the best players in the world. The next step for him is to contend more often and to win again. With Morikawa’s immense talent, those things should be coming sooner rather than later.

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