Collin Morikawa may have perhaps surprised some people with his performance over the first two days at The Masters, with the two-time major champion comfortably making the cut at Augusta National.
A few weeks ago, it seemed inevitable that Morikawa would be one of the players to put himself in the mix at the first major of the year. He was in sublime form heading into The Players Championship.
However, he was forced to withdraw in the early stages at TPC Sawgrass due to a back injury. And he did not play again in a competitive round before arriving at Augusta National.
Nevertheless, Morikawa recovered from an opening 74 to post a 69 on Friday and put himself inside the top 20 heading into the weekend at The Masters.
He has the likes of Scottie Scheffler and Ludvig Åberg among the group one shot further back.
Collin Morikawa says he is not in any pain after the first two rounds at The Masters
That is a remarkable achievement considering that while Morikawa insisted that he is not playing in any pain, he does lack confidence in his swing right now.
“Honestly, it doesn’t hurt. My legs are very tired, but the trust isn’t there. It’s a really weird way to describe it. I don’t trust myself to swing normally,” he said.
“I mean, if you watch any of my swings, it’s the armsy-est swings I’ve ever put. You know, I think I’m just guarding, because I never know when it’s going to happen. Then I don’t know how to get over that. I think it’s going to take some time, but you know, you grind it out. Trust me, the last two days were some of the best golf. No matter what I would have shot, but truthfully, today was probably the best golf I could have played.”
“No [there’s no pain], it’s just uncomfortable,” he added. “It’s just I never know when something might happen, and it’s just ideally I wouldn’t be playing the Masters a few weeks after what had happened and just the way the rehab was going, but you know, I’m here and get to play another two more days at Augusta National.”
What Collin Morikawa has been constantly doing over the first two days at Augusta National
Given that several big names will be packing their bags after two rounds, it is so impressive that Morikawa is finding a way to score extremely well.
Clearly, it is almost certainly too much to ask to expect Morikawa to contend. But he can take so much confidence into the rest of the season following this performance.
In fact, he went on to explain how demanding he is being of his body this week.
“The putter still feels great. I still feel like I can hit some decent shots, and I’m just hoping that they all come during the 18 holes. You know, I’ve done it enough to where I know how to square up the club face. I know what I kind of need to do with my arms. It’s just hard sometimes,” he said.
“Thankfully the wind is not up. I think if the wind were up for me, it would be a lot more challenging because I would try and force more speed into what I probably shouldn’t be doing.
“I think I’ve said the number 50 maybe 2,000 times in the last two days. It’s because that’s the percentage I feel like I’m swinging it. I feel like I’m playing at 50 per cent. I know the ball is going farther than that, but if I think 60 per cent, who knows what my body is going to do? I’m sticking at 50 per cent right now.”
In many ways, Morikawa’s performance makes his injury all the more agonising to think about. He was arguably the best player on the planet when he took the fateful practice swing on Sawgrass’ 11th hole.
He has an opportunity to record his sixth successive top 20 finish at Augusta National. It is difficult not to wonder what could have happened had he been fully fit.
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