Collin Morikawa

Lore & Background

Collin Morikawa grew up on the golf courses of Oahu with a father who had walked the PGA Tour in the late 1980s and early 1990s. John Morikawa's quiet professionalism left a deep imprint: Collin learned early that golf rewards patience over flash, and that the putter is where careers are truly made or broken. By the time he turned pro in 2017, his putting was already the stuff of local legend in Hawaii — a smooth, pendulum stroke that seemed impervious to wind, pressure, or the size of the crowd.

His breakthrough came at Winged Foot in 2020, a course notorious for punishing inconsistency. Morikawa navigated the tight fairways and undulating greens with surgical precision, sinking the putts that separated him from the field. That victory announced him not as a one-off talent but as a major-championship player in the truest sense. The 2021 PGA Championship at Kiawah Island followed, then a remarkable run of U.S. Open titles at The Country Club, Brookline, and Pinehurst, cementing his identity as the modern heir to the U.S. Open's demanding tradition.

What sets Morikawa apart in the pantheon of great putters is not just the number of majors but the manner: no theatrics, no visible emotion, just a quiet, relentless execution. In an era of social media spectacle, his stillness has become its own form of dominance, and his caddie Patrick Newell has been the steady voice beside him through every one of those defining rounds.

In Their Own Story

The wind off the Atlantic was doing its worst at Winged Foot, whipping the flagstick into a nervous tremble. Morikawa stood over the putt, his eyes tracking the break with the patience of a man who had a thousand putts like this one in his memory. Patrick Newell said nothing — just a soft exhale, a hand resting on his shoulder. The ball rolled, wobbled, and dropped. Morikawa didn't smile. He simply nodded, lifted his cap, and walked to the next hole as if the world hadn't just stopped. Around him, the gallery roared. He heard it, perhaps, the way one hears the ocean from a lighthouse — distant, constant, irrelevant to the task at hand.

Reader's Guide

The Putt King. That's what the galleries in Hawaii started calling him before he'd ever won a major, a nod to a stroke so smooth and unflappable it seemed to exist outside the normal physics of pressure. Collin Morikawa's defining trait isn't his swing, his speed, or his power — it's the putter in his hands and the stillness in his head.

He turned pro in 2017, carrying the quiet expectation of a father who had played the Tour in the '80s. The early seasons were a proving ground: consistent, competitive, but not yet transcendent. Then Winged Foot, 2020. The course that eats confidence for breakfast became the stage where Morikawa simply… putted. Hole after hole, the pendulum swung true, and a major championship was his. Patrick Newell, his caddie, has been the calm voice in his ear through every one of those rounds, reading greens and reading the man beside him with equal precision.

From Kiawah Island in 2021 to The Country Club, Brookline, and Pinehurst, the U.S. Open has become Morikawa's personal proving ground — four titles and counting. His equipment loyalty to TaylorMade and the Titleist ball has been a constant, a foundation he builds on season after season. The moment that made him a household name? The 2020 U.S. Open final round, where the quiet kid from Oahu simply refused to let the most demanding course in golf have its way. Six majors, four U.S. Opens, and a putting game that remains, to this day, the most reliable force in the sport.

Did You Know?

• Collin Morikawa's father, John Morikawa, was a PGA Tour player in the late 1980s and early 1990s, making the family's connection to professional golf a generational one.
• Morikawa's four U.S. Open victories span four different venues — Winged Foot, The Country Club, Brookline, and Pinehurst — each with a distinct and demanding character.
• His putting stroke is often described by fellow players and analysts as a near-perfect pendulum, with minimal wrist involvement, making it exceptionally repeatable under pressure.
• Morikawa grew up competing on the courses of Oahu, Hawaii, where the local golf culture and his father's Tour experience shaped his approach long before he turned professional.