2022 Players Championship: Top 10 power rankings at TPC Sawgrass
It was too little, too late to catch up to Joaquin Niemann’s record-breaking pace at the Genesis Invitational, but Collin Morikawa was scorching down the stretch at Riviera the last time we saw him compete.
The Californian opened in 67-67-68 before firing the low round of the day on Sunday, 65, to finish just two off the pace in a tie for second place.
It was Morikawa’s seventh top-20 in his last eight starts worldwide. That span includes a win at the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai late in 2021. He was also T-5th at the Hero World Challenge and the Sentry Tournament of Champions.
The former Cal Golden Bear is making his second Players Championship start. TPC Sawgrass is a tall task on the first try. He settled for T-41st (71-73-76-66) last year.
If only he could have finished the 2020 tournament, which was canceled due to the pandemic. Morikawa opened in 68 to sit T–7th after hitting 13 greens in regulation.
“I think knowing where to miss off the tees,” Morikawa was transcribed by ASAP Sports in 2020 on a key to playing TPC Sawgrass. “There’s some spots and some tee boxes that line you up in a place where you really don’t want to be and sometimes you’ve got to challenge water and bunkers aren’t bad sometimes off the tee.”
The 25-year-old leads the Tour in total strokes gained, being in elite company to be two strokes or better per round on the field at 2.514.
It could be a big summer for Morikawa based on how his putting’s come along.
Inconsistency on the greens has cost him some wins in a career that already includes five on the PGA Tour and one on the DP World Tour.
Morikawa’s the biggest riser in SG putting on the PGA Tour in 2021-22, climbing from 178th (-.457) to fourth (.927) entering the week.
There’s still work to be done with his short game, but his ball-striking makes him a favorite to contend every time he tees it up.
Four par-fives on the scorecard are a good thing for Morikawa. He ranks first in approaches from 225-250 yards (31’10”) and third in par-5 scoring (4.34). He’s also first in par-4 scoring (3.82).