Home course gives Collin Morikawa advantage at CJ Cup

Collin Morikawa had a phenomenal 2021 play connected the PGA Tour. He won the British Open, won a World Golf Championship event, starred connected the victorious Ryder Cup squad and reached No. 3 successful the satellite rankings.

Not bully capable for the Las Vegas resident.

“I can’t get complacent and I can’t, you know, I ever privation to support pushing myself, right?” helium said arsenic helium prepares to marque his play debut astatine the CJ Cup this week. “I privation to support getting better, and I deliberation there’s a batch of country for improvement.”

That’s a scary proposition for the different players connected tour. Morikawa, 24, is lone 2 years retired of college, has 5 wins — including 2 majors — and much than $7 cardinal successful vocation earnings.

But Morikawa said helium isn’t accordant enough, isn’t a bully subordinate retired of the rough, and helium tin ever get amended with his putting, chipping and wide ball-striking.

Morikawa looks to Jon Rahm past play oregon Rory McIlroy a fewer years backmost arsenic what helium would similar to become.

“I retrieve erstwhile I turned pro, Rory was finishing, I think, apical 5 successful each event, and that’s wherever I privation my crippled to beryllium due to the fact that that means I’m capable to question each week and conscionable beryllium ready, not person to tinker with things present and there,” helium said.

Travel is not an contented this week for Morikawa, unless you number a 10-minute thrust from his location successful Summerlin to The Summit Club, his location course. It gives him a immense vantage implicit the remainder of the 78-player field, astir of whom had ne'er seen the people earlier this week.

“There’s a consciousness of comfort,” helium said of playing astatine The Summit, a spectacular people designed by Tom Fazio tucked into the reddish rocks with views of the Strip. “I spell retired connected my disconnected weeks, and I conscionable tee it up retired here. I’m comfy with a batch of tee shots, I’m comfy with the approaches. I cognize wherever the greens break. I cognize wherever to miss the shots.”

That doesn’t mean helium volition play well, helium said, but the likelihood are intelligibly successful his favor.

“Hopefully we tin execute the shots this week, but there’s a consciousness of comfort,” helium reiterated. “There’s not that consciousness of urgency to fig retired the play people per se connected Tuesday oregon time during the pro-am. I’m ready.”

The CJ Cup is his archetypal outing since the Ryder Cup, and players from those teams person shown rather a hangover from the event. Last week astatine the Shriners Children’s Open, six Ryder Cup golfers were successful the field; 4 missed the chopped and the different 2 weren’t a factor.

Morikawa says that’s excessively tiny of a illustration size to accidental if there’s immoderate correlation.

“Is determination a high? Is determination a low? I deliberation everyone’s antithetic connected however you gauge what the Ryder Cup means to you and however you benignant of process disconnected from that,” helium said. “The Ryder Cup to maine was a full beast of itself, and I’ve got to absorption connected a caller season.”

Morikawa called the Ryder Cup a large acquisition and said it was awesome to squad with Dustin Johnson and to win.

“But this week’s a caller goal, and however bash I commencement the play disconnected connected the champion ft forward,” helium said.

Is helium ready?

“Absolutely,” helium said. “I needed this break. My assemblage feels good. At the Ryder Cup, my assemblage felt great, and I was hitting the shot normal, which is ever exciting. Hopefully we’re conscionable bringing that connected to this caller season.”

Greg Robertson covers play for the Review-Journal. He tin beryllium reached astatine grobertson@reviewjournal.com.