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2021 Sentry Tournament of Champions: Top 10 power rankings at Kapalua

By Mike Randleman

Jan 6, 2019; Maui, HI, USA; The Kapalua butterfly logo in the landscape located near the first hole during the final round of the Sentry Tournament of Champions golf tournament at Kapalua Resort - The Plantation Course. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 6, 2019; Maui, HI, USA; The Kapalua butterfly logo in the landscape located near the first hole during the final round of the Sentry Tournament of Champions golf tournament at Kapalua Resort - The Plantation Course. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports /
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Nov 13, 2020; Augusta, Georgia, USA; Collin Morikawa looks over his putt on the tenth green during the second round of The Masters golf tournament at Augusta National GC. Mandatory Credit: Michael Madrid-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 13, 2020; Augusta, Georgia, USA; Collin Morikawa looks over his putt on the tenth green during the second round of The Masters golf tournament at Augusta National GC. Mandatory Credit: Michael Madrid-USA TODAY Sports /

It’s all too common for a Tournament of Champions first-timer to finish far down the leaderboard. Collin Morikawa is not your common PGA Tour pro, or even PGA Tour winner.

We saw that in plain sight when the 23 year old American grabbed the 2020 PGA Championship by the horns to win his first major championship.

Morikawa was already locked into the 2021 Tournament of Champions at that point thanks to his win earlier that summer at the Workday Charity Open.

Rewind to 2020 at Kapalua. Morikawa battled tough conditions to shoot four under-par rounds (71-71-70-71) en route to T-7th. He was a little loose on and around the greens on the weekend to keep him from truly contending.

The former Cal Golden Bear still hit it great, as evidenced by finishing third in strokes gained tee to green (1.57) and second in driving accuracy by hitting a whopping 55/60 (91.67%) fairways.

Morikawa cooled down a bit after his PGA Championship. Nevertheless, he still managed four top-20s in the nine starts after. That includes a T-10th in his last outing against a strong field at the European Tour’s DP World Tour Championship last month in Dubai.

It’s amazing to think about all the success Morikawa has had considering his putting stats. He rolled in some clutch ones to fend off Justin Thomas in a playoff at the Workday, but other than that he was abysmal.

Morikawa ranked 257th in SG putting (-.969). If he can just muster a top 150 putting mark, one of the world’s best iron players could ascend to No. 1 in the OWGR.

If the FedEx Cup points race ended today, Morikawa would just barely in the playoffs. Fortunately for him, there are still eight more months left. I’d give him a better chance at winning the whole thing than missing out on The Barclays.

A high finish here in Maui could be all it takes to get the ball rolling for a big 2021 for the young star.

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