Collin Morikawa has a brand new pre-shot routine this week.
Sarah Stier/Getty Photographs
Collin Morikawa flattening flag sticks together with his irons is nothing new, however he’s received a brand new set off for serving to him do it this week on the Sentry.
Morikawa didn’t win in 2024, however he ended up ending second on the Tour Championship and matched his career-high with eight top-10s. And he did all of it together with his worst ball-striking yr on Tour, ending forty fourth in strokes gained: strategy after having by no means completed outdoors the highest 4 within the stat his first 4 years on the PGA Tour.
So throughout the offseason, Morikawa used eight weeks off to tinker together with his sport a bit and he wound up with a brand new preshot routine.
“For those who watch a variety of my photographs at the moment, I used to be sort of doing this little preset factor earlier than a variety of my iron photographs,” Morikawa mentioned Thursday after opening with a seven-under 66. “Simply sort of permitting the physique to get to the place it must be within the shot. However, yeah, it’s been working, which has been good. It wasn’t a two-day factor after which throw it within the trash.”
On a lot of his photographs with irons and fairway woods, earlier than Morikawa takes the membership again, he drives into his lead leg by rotating his hips open to imitate his affect place.
It’s a delicate change, however one which’s paying massive dividends for Morikawa by way of two and a half rounds at Kapalua. Via 11 holes of the third spherical Saturday, Morikawa was fifth within the discipline in strokes gained: strategy, gaining greater than 4.3 photographs on the sphere to date. He’s additionally missed simply two greens by way of the primary 47 holes of the match.
On Friday, he defined he got here up with the routine to assist him stop with accidents.
‘I imagine in myself:’ Why Collin Morikawa thinks he can win FedEx Cup on Sunday
“I’ve gone by way of a pair accidents with the again, simply tweaking it a bit bit right here,” he defined after a second spherical 65. “I feel once I try to— not play by way of it, however your physique’s used to sure positions, and we achieve this a lot repetition with our our bodies, that generally you simply construct dangerous patterns.
“I simply needed to simply inform myself that I can sort of rotate and keep in that place and that’s all it’s actually doing. I’m not occupied with it. It’s saying, okay, you’re secure to go there, simply let it go. And it’s been good to see the minimize’s been again a bit bit extra with a bit bit extra space.”
