Collin Morikawa enjoyed the year of his life in 2021, securing a World Golf Championship, The Open Championship and the DP World Tour Championship along with the Race To Dubai title.
Not only did the American enjoy success on the course, but also off it, announcing his engagement to his girlfriend, Katherine Zhu at the end of November.
They tied the knot in November 2022 in a ceremony at Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles.
Despite attending different universities, the pair met in 2017, with Morikawa attending the University of California, Berkley, and Zhu the Pepperdine University.
After University, Morikawa turned professional in 2019 and, just two years later, he and Zhu were engaged. Over the years, Morikawa has regularly heaped praise on Zhu, stating how important she has been to his life.
"Kat has been by my side through it all. She would hate me if I didn't say this, but I didn't start winning in college until she showed up in my life, so thanks Kat. Whenever she's there, it always just gets me away from golf. She knows how I'm feeling after golf, like you said, she's played collegiately, she knows golf can take a toll on you, whether it's a good or bad day. So she's on that same swing of if we're playing well or not well, but, yeah, I'm very lucky to have her. Having someone at dinner makes things a lot nicer than sitting down there at the hotel by myself."
Zhu was born in Vancouver, British Columbia and her father, Mike Chu, was a champion tennis player. Zhu, herself, was also a very good tennis player before deciding to focus more on her golf game.
After attending Zhuji Hailiang Private High School in China, Zhu decided to return to North America to attend Pepperdine University. The reasons she gives for choosing the school are "First, I really like Coach Gibbs. I believe all good players have good coaches and I believe Coach Gibbs can help me become a good player. Second, Malibu has great weather conditions, which create a better environment for me to practice. Third, Pepperdine is a small school that is strong in both academics and athletics.”
Zhu is also a talented golfer and she played on the collegiate team for four years. Throughout her college career, her scoring average was 76.54 and she earned WGCA-All American honors. Zhu majored in International Management, plays the flute and says Tiger Woods is her favorite golfer.
The pair have spoken how competitive they are when they hit the course together. Morikawa said; "Always, we never let each other win. I think she beats me on probably 70 per cent of our chipping competitions. It actually makes me a better player. What's great about her is that we're always competing.
"To have her around [on the PGA Tour] on off weeks when no one's around, she can always bring a wedge to the course and we can always do something fun."
Katherine is also a keen runner and often takes part in runs, and set a new personal record of 1:38 in the Orange County half marathon in 2024.
The couple were also spotted volunteering in Hawaii ahead of the 2024 Sentry on the PGA Tour. They volunteered at the Pu'u Kukuior Hua Momona Farms, which grows fresh, Organic Microgreens at Kapalua.
