NAPA, Calif. – Collin Morikawa is changing putters again ahead of the Ryder Cup.
Morikawa, who was a captain’s pick for the 12-man American side that will take on Europe in the biennial competition beginning Sept. 26 at Bethpage Black in N.Y., said he has been working hard on his game since the Tour Championship concluded Aug. 24.
“I got straight to work the Monday right after. I’m really trying to figure out these irons and it’s crazy to say, but — and the putting as well. I’ve got a new putter in the bag this week, which I did a lot of work that Monday right after Tour Champ,” Morikawa said on Wednesday during a press conference ahead of the Procore Championship.
Ten of the 12 members of Team USA showed up this week to compete in the PGA Tour’s Procore Championship to dust off any rust on their game. In Morikawa’s case, he’s going to experiment with a different putter than the TaylorMade TP Soto that he’s used to win six times on Tour, including two majors. Morikawa didn’t specify which model he’d use on Thursday at Silverado Resort’s North Course, but he was spotted practicing with a center-shafted TaylorMade Spider Tour V.
Morikawa has tried different putters this year
Morikawa ranks 141st this season in Strokes Gained: Putting. This isn’t the first time this season he’s dabbled with a different putter. He previously used both mallet and blade style options, including a Logan Olson 1.0 Round.
Morikawa is considered one of the best iron players in the world but he’s been working on that part of the game just as much to make sure he’s dialed in for Bethpage.
“I want to show up at Bethpage and be able to just aim five yards left, 10 yards left, three feet left and just fire and pepper at those pins because that’s what people, you know, people get excited about,” he said. “Obviously, you need to make the putts, but that’s just something I’ve been fighting over the past few years is just there’s a difference of missing it 20 feet left and 20 feet right. It’s the same number no matter what, you know, strokes gained and stuff, but I want to know where my misses are going.”
Morikawa is competing in his third straight Ryder Cup. When asked about his recollections from being a member of the losing team in Rome in 2023, he didn’t have to think long. “It sucked,” he said. “That’s two years you have to wait to hopefully make the team again. It lights a fire in all of us.”
