Destined for Superstardom

Collin Morikawa has made a scintillating start to life as a professional golfer, and given his blend of on- and off-course attributes, the sky really is the limit

- Brian Wacker

The first time Collin Morikawa played in a professional tournament was in 2016. He was 19 years old and had just finished his first year at the University of California-Berkeley, where he was the Golden Bears’ top finisher in seven of 14 tournaments. That summer, he teed it up in the Korn Ferry Tour’s Capital Classic in Kansas, earning an exemption into the event by winning the Trans-Mississippi Amateur the year before. Morikawa didn’t win, but, after making the cut on the number, he shot a pair of 63s on the weekend and sank a 27-footer on the 72nd hole to get into a three-man play-off.

Ollie Schniederjans prevailed, but Morikawa’s performance was eye-opening. A few months later, still an amateur and now in his second year of college, he played in his first PGA Tour event, the Safeway Open. Morikawa – the top-ranked amateur in the world for a few weeks in the spring of 2018 – missed the cut, but he wasn’t dissuaded.

“Of course there’s going to be that wow factor, but did I believe I belonged? Of course,” Morikawa says. “I didn’t go there just to enjoy the experience. I still wanted to play really well and have a good finish. But that week I missed the cut and you learn what you did wrong and what you need to do better.”

Morikawa, who boasted sterling academic marks throughout his formative years, proved a quick learner once school was out, too.