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Golf Monthly
Golf Monthly
Sport
Sam Tremlett

Collin Morikawa Facts: 25 Things You Didn't Know About The PGA Tour Golfer

Montage of Collin Morikawa hitting a drive and him holding his two Major trophies.

Collin Morikawa only turned professional in 2019 but it became clear almost instantly that he was going to become hugely successful in the sport and develop into a household name.

The Californian won his maiden Major title in 2020 at the PGA Championship and followed it up with another Major triumph in 2021 at The Open - winning both in his debut starts in the events. There are surely set to be more to follow in the coming years.

Get to know Morikawa better with these 25 facts...

Collin Morikawa Facts

1. Collin Morikawa was born in Los Angeles, California.

2. For three weeks in May 2018, Morikawa was the top-ranked amateur golfer in the world.

3. Morikawa turned pro in 2019.

4. It took only six pro starts for the youngster to clinch his first PGA Tour victory, at the 2019 Barracuda Championship.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

5. He then collected his second PGA Tour victory at the Workday Charity Open in 2020. This came in a playoff against Justin Thomas and at the time, it meant he had more wins than missed cuts on the PGA Tour.

6. Morikawa attended the University of California, Berkeley, and he graduated with a bachelors degree in business administration.

7. At college he was one of the top players in the country as he was named as a first-team All-American four times.

8. The strongest part of his game is his iron play. He ranked 2nd in SG: Approach the Green for the 2019-20 PGA Tour season, 1st in 2020-21 and 3rd in 2021-22. His 6-iron dispersion was found to be better than the average tour pro with a pitching wedge.

9. Morikawa is of Japanese and Chinese descent.

10. When paired with Tiger Woods at the 2020 Farmers Insurance Open, Morikawa became the first player to be paired with Woods in a PGA Tour event who was born after Tiger turned pro.

11. Morikawa started his professional PGA Tour career with 22 consecutive cuts made. This is the second-longest streak to start a career after Woods, who had 25 consecutive.

12. His parents are called Debbie and Blaine Morikawa.

13. Morikawa married Katherine Zhu in December 2022. The pair met at college and Zhu played collegiate golf at Pepperdine University. The pair got engaged in November 2021.

14. Collin and Katherine live in Summerlin, Las Vegas, Nevada.

15. His home club is The Summit Club in Las Vegas, which hosted the 2021 CJ Cup.

16. Morikawa has been a TaylorMade staffer since turning pro. He wears Adidas apparel and footwear.

17. He secured his first Major victory at the 2020 PGA Championship. He was the 9th player all-time to win the PGA Championship whilst making his debut appearance in the event. In 2021 he then became the first player in men's golf history to win in his debut in two different Majors when he won the Open Championship at Royal St George's.

18. He played on the 2017 Walker Cup team and won all four of his matches in a crushing 19-7 win for the Americans. In 2021 he made his Ryder Cup debut and won 3.5 points from four matches in a dominant display from the USA. He represented the USA at the Ryder Cup again in their defeat at Marco Simone in 2023.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

19. Rick Sessinghaus has been Morikawa's coach since Collin was eight years old.

20. He is a fan of the Lakers and Dodgers, both sports teams based in Los Angeles. As a youngster he often played both basketball and baseball. 

21. After winning the WGC-Workday Championship at The Concession, he joined Tiger Woods as the only under-25 to win a Major and a WGC title.

22. The course he grew up playing is called Chevy Chase Country Club. It is a nine-hole course with 10 greens and 36 tees and was designed by William P. Bell.

23. He has won over $34m on the PGA Tour.

24. He won the Race to Dubai in 2021 on the DP World Tour, becoming the first ever American winner of the European-based circuit's season-long title.

25. He and wife Katherine have a Goldendoodle named Koa. The dog has its own Instagram page.

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