Who Is Training Collin Morikawa After Abrupt Mark Blackburn Split?

At the 88th Masters, Collin Morikawa has been showing a different game altogether. After not getting a single top 10 in his last seven starts, Morikawas stands at T2 before the last round’s commencement. He shot 4 bridies on Saturday, and 1 bogey to finish 3 under 69. Comparatively, the recent game of Morikawa is like night and day from his past performances.

The changed gameplay can be attributed to the changes he has made in his team. It seems that the 27-year-old has replaced his former coach, Mark Blackburn, with someone more reliable, which has benefitted him massively at the Masters.

Collin Morikawa replaces the former coach with a bag partner

Collin Morikawa began working with Mark Blackburn right after the disappointing loss at Marco Simone, Italy. Blackburn has been named the number one coach in the US by Golf Digest and was also awarded the PGA National Teacher and Coach of the Year in 2020. The expertise of Blackburn helped Morikawa break the two-year-long winless drought.

The two-time major champion won the ZOZO Championship in Japan right after he started working with Blackburn. However, now it seems that the two have parted ways. Dan Rapaport reported in a tweet that Morikawa has replaced Blackburn with a little expertise of his own and has taken the help of his long-time caddie, J.J. Jakovac. But it should be noted that Morikawa is still working with the same putting coach, Stephen Sweeney.

Whatever the two are doing behind the scenes, it seems to be working in favor of Morikawa, and his decision to trust himself more might even reward him with a green jacket. However, the feat might not be as easy because Scottie Scheffler will be fighting his way to the second Masters title.

Scheffler is coming with firepower like no other golfer at Augusta, and it may intimidate any golfer. However, Morikawa isn’t the one to be scared by Scheffler’s prowess.

Scottie Scheffler cannot scare away Collin Morikawa

It might be true that Scottie Scheffler is currently the hottest golfer in the world! With his putting back on track, the 32-year-old is unstoppable. However, his huge firepower isn’t a threat to Collin Morikawa. Talking about his playing partner, Morikawa honestly said, “At the end of the day, it doesn’t scare me.”

Morikawa was well aware of what he could do on the greens and showed confidence in his gameplay. The 6-time PGA Tour winner added onto that and said, “I still know that at my best and at what I truly believe I can do. I saw a little glimpse of that early on today.” Morikawa expressed a bit of regret for missing a few putts, or else he would’ve been tied for the lead with Scheffler.

Nonetheless, he was hopeful that the last day would turn out better than the three days that had passed. To overcome his mistakes and clinch his third major victory, Morikawa said, “Thankfully, I’ve got one more day. I got 18 more holes to figure it out and hopefully, you know, play some really great golf.” 

The two are paired for the Sunday final round. It will be enthralling to see who wins the highly coveted tournament, and who will have to settle for runner-up spot! Stay tuned to find out!