2022 Charles Schwab Challenge: Top 10 power rankings at Colonial

Collin Morikawa was tantalizingly close to winning his first Charles Schwab Challenge debut.

The youngster was the man to beat in the final round, but a balky putter led to a squandered lead in regulation and a loss to Daniel Berger in a two-man playoff.

Morikawa fired 64-67-67-67 to finish in solo second place against an elite field that was playing in the first event after the 2020 pandemic pause.

Morikawa responded less than a month later to win the Workday Charity Open in another playoff.

“I thought the course fit me really well,” ASAP Sports quoted Morikawa on Colonial in 2020. “It’s a ball striker’s course, had to hit it in the fairway, and it was crazy because it just didn’t seem like I was hitting as many fairways as I normally do… But overall I think it fits my game really well. You’ve got to put it in the fairway, and from there it’s an approach shot course.”

Morikawa finished T-14th (69-66-72-68) at the 2021 Charles Schwab Challenge.

He was in the thick of it through 36 holes before falling back. The Cal alum was second in the field in strokes gained approach (8.18).

His putting that plagued him early on as a pro has improved. Morikawa has climbed from outside the top 100 in SG to 84th (.090) and was higher until recently.

Morikawa led in SG approach last season and is still up at the top in ninth (.736). His accuracy and consistent ball flight will serve him well around Colonial.

Morikawa made the cut at last week’s PGA Championship, something the likes of Scottie Scheffler, Dustin Johnson, Patrick Cantlay, etc. could not. That was about all that went right for Morikawa in his T-55th result.

With two more majors to go and an Open Championship to defend, look for Morikawa to go to the drawing board and summon some good form in advance of The Country Club and St. Andrew’s.