Collin Morikawa has had the 2023 U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club circled on his calendar since playing college golf a few hours north in the Bay Area, so he’s not about to let a back injury sideline him this week.
Morikawa was only two shots off the 54-hole lead when he withdrew from the Memorial before the final round two weeks ago. He said it was due to work in the gym and not a golf-related back injury.
“This wasn’t because of golf. This was just bad movement,” he said Tuesday. “It sucked because I grinded for three days to put myself in contention. We figured some things out Saturday afternoon — that’s when you’re excited to wake up and you’re like, ‘We can put together a few birdies early on and you’re right there tied for the lead.’ And who knows what could have happened.
“But it was unfortunate — it sucked, because it’s a course that I’ve loved.”
As much as Morikawa is fond of Jack Nicklaus’ signature course, the California native called Los Angeles his “favorite spot in the world.”
After taking a few days off to rest and work on his rehab, Morikawa arrived in L.A. and stayed at his parents’ house Saturday night.
“It’s always going to be home for me no matter where I live, no matter where I move to,” the current Las Vegas resident said. “There’s just that extra added touch, specialness when you’re playing at home, when you’re playing in the state of California for me.”
Morikawa said he has been pain-free during practice rounds this week, including hitting out of bunkers and the deep rough. He did say that he “might be teeing it up kind of weirdly this week” as a precaution, but not to read too much into it.
The 26-year-old already has a pair of major titles on his resume — the 2020 PGA Championship and the 2021 Open Championship.
Morikawa has slipped to 18th in the Official World Golf Ranking, with his last victory coming in 2021. But he does have a pair of top-6s the past two years at Riviera just seven miles away and is oozing optimism this week.
He played the LACC while on the Walker Cup team in 2017, and Morikawa’s best previous finish at a U.S. Open was a tie for fourth two years ago at Torrey Pines in San Diego.
When he returned to the LACC this week, Morikawa saw a completely different golf course than what he remembered, but “in a good way.” The North Course will play different for the U.S. Open — firmer, faster and with significantly thicker rough.
“It’s just a big-boy golf course, it really is,” he said.
And all that debate about the proposed merger between the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund? That’s a subject for another week for this California kid.
“This week means so much,” Morikawa said about a major contested in his hometown. “But that’s just the added bonus, the added fuel for me, to go out there and not waste my energy on anything else.”
–Field Level Media
