Hey there, golf fans! In our last blog post, we talked about Jon Rahm and his impressive putting skills, which helped him secure the World No.1 spot. But today, we’re going to talk about a golfer who has had a lot of success despite struggling with his putting. We’re talking about none other than Collin Morikawa
Since joining the PGA Tour in 2019, Collin has been on fire! He’s made an impressive 22 consecutive cuts and had three top 5 finishes, including his first win at the Barracuda Championship. He’s also won the 2020 PGA Championship, the 2021 (British) Open Championship, and the 2021 Race to Dubai. Plus, he’s even represented the United States as an Olympian and helped them secure a victory in the Ryder Cup!
However, despite all these impressive achievements, Collin has consistently struggled with his putting. In fact, in 2021, he was ranked 178th on the PGA Tour for Strokes Gained: Putting, and while he has improved to 94th so far in 2023, he still hasn’t been able to consistently perform well on the greens.
The many Putters of Collin Morikawa
To try and improve his putting, Collin has tried out various different putters, making changes to the weight, length, design, and even switching between mallets and putters from the TaylorMade catalogue along with technique changes. But has it actually helped him putt better? Well, when we look at his performance split by putter type, the answer is no. However, he has seen some short-term gains on occasion.
Looking at his performance with mallet versus blade, it is hard to see any real difference to his putting game. However, breaking down each change we can see a subtle but measurable shift in performance.
His initial shift to the TP Juno blade yielded better results, mainly through avoiding really poor rounds. He persisted for a year before switching to the Spider Rollback in mid-2022. This change was short-lived but very interesting.
- statistically, performed better with the mallet than the blade ON AVERAGE
- missed 3 out of 4 cuts with the mallet
- has not been as good since changing back to a blade ON AVERAGE
- has seen significant improvement in SG: Putting in the round & tournament directly after switching to a blade
This is perhaps why he still persists with blade putters, with his current weapon of choice being the TaylorMade TP Soto.
Despite all this experimentation, Collin’s putting struggles haven’t really affected his overall game. Even when he has a bad putting day, he still manages to perform well in tournaments due to his consistency off the tee, and finishing in the top 3 every season for Strokes Gained: Approach (currently 8th in 2023). As can be seen below, putting is not what makes him succeed or make cuts, but it still has a role to play when it comes to Top 10 finishes
MC = Missed Cut
But if you’re struggling with your putting, changing up your putter might be worth a try. It hasn’t necessarily helped Collin, but it also hasn’t hurt him.
At the end of the day, it’s all about finding what works best for you. Technology might not make or break your putting game, but finding a putter that looks good to you and feels good in your hands can definitely help boost your confidence. While some golfers, like Jon Rahm, have a preferred gamer putter that they stick with, others, like Collin Morikawa, might need to experiment a bit more to find what works. So, don’t be afraid to try out different putters until you find the one that helps you sink those putts!
Data Credit: datagolf.com
