Collin Morikawa explains the thought of Green Jacket "always" crosses his mind as he looks for maiden Masters triumph
Collin Morikawa has mounted a brave title challenge to rival Scottie Scheffler for the Masters' Green Jacket. The 27-year-old golfer found himself on T2 at the end of Round 3's play at Augusta.
Morikawa readily admitted to media, including Sportskeeda, that he had previously thought about being rewarded with the prestigious jacket slipped onto his shoulders, saying:
"Look, it always crosses your mind. If it doesn't cross your mind, I don't know what the hell your mind is thinking about. You're purposely trying to block it out. For me, I have to allow that to come."
Morikawa in the past has probably visualized being presented with the Wanamaker Cup (PGA Championship) and the Claret Jug (The Open). On Saturday night, he was one shot shy of Scottie Scheffler after 54 holes at the 88th Masters at the Augusta National.
Collin Morikawa, who won the PGA in 2020 and the Open in 2021, was fifth at the Masters in 2022 and T-10 last year, so it is not as if has not been close to the Green Jacket.
He said:
"But you also have to allow yourself and learn how to think about and be present and think about where you're at, right. So, you know, yeah, I mean, when I started birdie, birdie, birdie, a hundred percent I thought about what could this round be like. What could this be."
"But my head always goes to a million different places, and you just have to know that when you do step into your shot, all you're thinking about is that one shot. So, yeah, I'm not going to say that it doesn't cross my mind," he added.
The American continued:
"We are here on a Saturday night, and I'm one back. I'm very excited about tomorrow, and I have to take that and use that to my advantage and just be able to really, when I step in -- when I grab that club out of the bag, be able to execute those golf shots as best as I can, which is not thinking about the jacket."
Collin Morikawa's recent performances explored
Many experts feel that part of mental training in sports is visualizing winning moments, or at least trying to gaze into a crystal ball. That is what sportspersons mean when they mention feeding off positive memories. Collin Morikawa might have to do something similar to succeed.
Interestingly, Morikawa, who last won on the PGA Tour at the Zozo Championships in Japan in 2023, touched his career-high ranking of second in the world with his fifth-place finish at the 2022 Masters, when Scheffler won the Green Jacket.
Since then, Collin Morikawa has slipped to 20th, but there is no question that Majors make him tick. Last year he missed the cut at the Open in Liverpool, was T-14 at the US Open, T-26 at the PGA and T-10 at the Masters.
Morikawa has two wins and five other Top-10s in 16 Majors and has six PGA Tour wins. He also won the DP World Tour Championships in 2021, after which he endured a 23-month title drought, which he ended in October last year at Zozo.