By WILL GRAVES | Related Press
AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — The burden of historical past packed into each inch of Augusta Nationwide will be overwhelming. There isn’t a tee field, a fairway, a bunker, a thatch of pine straw or a placing floor the place the greats haven’t walked. The place iconic photographs haven’t been made. The place inexperienced jackets haven’t been received. Or misplaced.
Collin Morikawa appreciates the lore. Acknowledges it. And is effectively conscious of the impression it might probably have in your recreation.
“You present up in your first time and that’s what occurs with lots of people,” Morikawa mentioned, who might be enjoying in his third Masters. “They're like, ‘Oh man, this occurred right here. This occurred right here.’”
But the 25-year-old, two-time main champion doesn’t get hung up on it. Strolling onto the 18th inexperienced on the finish of a apply spherical Monday, caddie J.J. Jakovac requested Morikawa if he needed to recreate Mark O’Meara’s dramatic birdie that captured the 1998 Masters.
To which Morikawa had only one query.
“What putt? I had no clue which putt (O’Meara) needed to win the Masters,” Morikawa mentioned with fun. “So he drops the ball, and he’s like, ‘Oh, I believed you'll have recognized.’ I used to be like, ‘No, I've zero clue.’”
It’s not disrespect. It’s extra of a selection. He loves the sport. He’s merely intent on not letting it devour him. That’s simply not how he’s wired.
“If I need to have a protracted profession … if golf is 24/7 and I am going examine every part and watch every part and keep in mind every part, that’s simply not how my head works,” he mentioned.
There are moments cemented in his reminiscence, significantly watching Tiger Woods’ emotional victory in 2019. Morikawa joined his Cal teammates at an off-campus home just a few of them shared, stuffed as many couches as they may collectively then sat transfixed as Woods captured his fifth title.
Three years later, Morikawa’s vantage level might be far completely different. So will the stakes. He arrived in Georgia this week not as a university child watching the Masters on a large TV from elements unknown however because the third-ranked participant on the planet, one decided to sort out one of the vital iconic programs on the planet on his phrases, principally as a result of attempting to do it the opposite approach didn’t work.
Morikawa saved being instructed he wanted to hit a draw constantly if he needed to contend. So he spent his first two Masters attempting to work the ball proper to left though his most popular shot is a lower that begins left and drifts again to the fitting. He completed tied for forty fourth through the patron-free and fall-swept 2020 Masters and whereas he improved to 18th final spring, he was by no means an element.
He’d seen sufficient. He figures the 5 attracts he tried to hit off the tee on the entrance 9 in 2020 amounted to greater than he would usually hit throughout a whole yr. It’s not that he can’t hit one. He’d simply want to not, principally due to what occurs when the ball doesn’t go the place he desires. If he’s hitting a lower and it misses, he nonetheless has a fairly good concept of the place he’ll find yourself. Not a lot when his swing goes a technique and the ball goes one other.
Augusta is tough sufficient as it's with out overthinking issues, which is precisely what Morikawa felt he was doing repeatedly throughout his first two journeys to the Masters.
“I used to be simply making it a lot more durable as a result of I used to be attempting to hit these photographs that, you understand, aren’t my go-to photographs,” he mentioned.
Issues are likely to work out when Morikawa trusts his instincts, just like the lower 3-wood at Harding Park through the remaining spherical of the 2020 PGA that arrange the clinching eagle and turned him into a significant champion at 23. His near-flawless triumph within the British Open at Royal St. George’s final summer season made him the primary participant since Bobby Jones to want eight begins or much less to say a number of majors.
All that success has raised his profile, his world rating and his personal expectations. He arrived at Augusta rested following a tie for ninth on the Match Play final month. He feels his recreation is near the place it must be. When he steps onto the tee on Thursday morning, his thoughts received’t drift to attempting to change into the primary participant since Jordan Spieth in 2015 to win consecutive majors or the prospect to etch himself into the material of historical past at a spot that embraces it like no different.
It’ll simply be him. The ball. And a mission that continues to be the identical since he first picked up a membership.
“Like there are such a lot of guys that take into consideration a lot,” he mentioned. “And yeah, it really works one week, works this different week. However, like, simply get within the ball within the gap. Determine methods to get it into the opening.”