Collin Morikawa finishes 2021 as the second-ranked golfer in the world
Collin Morikawa finishes 2021 as the second-ranked golfer in the world
The best seems yet to come.
While many Golden Bears have had great 2021s, it’s hard to think of few who had a better year than Collin Morikawa. The Cal golf alum firmly anchored himself as the best young golfer on the planet, and it seems like only a matter of time before he’ll be knocking on the door of that top ranking.
Here’s a quick rundown of Morikawa’s accomplishments in 2021.
Morikawa won his second major title, in his second major debut at the Open Championship at Royal’s Saint George. He joins Tiger Woods as the only golfer to win the Open and the PGA Championship majors before the age of 25.
Morikawa finished in the top-20 in all four majors and top-ten in three. He was in the thick of things at the US Open at Torrey Pines, but came up just short, tied for fourth. Morikawa made a late charge on Sunday to finish tied for eighth at the PGA Championship. He also finished tied for 18th at the Masters.
Morikawa won two more tournaments in 2021: The WGC-Workday Championship in February in Bradenton, Florida, and the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai to close out the European Tour season in November. He had a chance to win Memorial but lost the first playoff hole.
Morikawa finished in the top-10 in 13 of his 24 tournaments played in 2021, including four top-ten finishes to round out the year. That’s consistency.
Morikawa ended 2020 ranked seventh in the world, and his leapt this year all the way to second. He trails Jon Rahm by just under 0.8 points.
Morikawa’s career earnings on tour now total $23,447,798. He turned pro just over two-and-a-half years ago!
Morikawa sank the winning putt at the Ryder Cup for Team USA, going 3-0-1 in his matchups.
Morikawa is the first ever American to finish first in the European Tour, besting Billy Horschel by over 2000 points.
Key to this success is Morikawa’s iron game, which isn’t just the best in the planet, it might be among the best ball-striking of all time.
Then after all that noise, he got engaged!
And he now has his eyes set on the next big goal: Winning a lot.
"Win more," was Morikawa's blunt assessment of his main goal for 2022. "It's not an encore, it's not a swansong farewell to what I'm doing in 2021. I'm going to set some high goals high. I always have. I'm going to set the bar as high as I can get and keep going.
If he can hit his targets, the Cal Family could have a very happy Sunday routine ahead in 2022.
Gobears49
Collin is also a very good speaker. His "thank you" after winning the Open in the U.K. was a very good short speech.
Thanks Avi! Love seeing Collin play so solid! Dude is on fire.
I couldn't post on the DBD today so in the meantime, I wish you and all the W4C writers/peeps and Cal fans a safe and happy New Year!!!