Collin Morikawa won the WGC–Workday Championship in the only manner you can possibly get around The Concession: play solid tee-to-green golf then navigate the complex putting surfaces at the Jack Nicklaus/Tony Jacklin design.
Morikawa produced a tournament-leading 27 birdies by leading the field in strokes gained/tee-to-green (picking up more than 13 strokes on the field); first in strokes gained/approach-the-green (with more than 10 strokes) and was T-12 in strokes gained/putting, adding another three shots while finishing second in putts per green in regulation with his TaylorMade Spider FCG mallet.
After an early bogey, those overall spectacular skills allowed Morikawa to make four birdies to keep his challengers at bay – and there were many of them. Billy Horschel made an early push before falling back, Brooks Koepka was lurking much of the day and Viktor Hovland kept the pressure on until a pair of three-putts late stalled his charge. A savvy up and down at the last hole preserved a three-shot victory by Morikawa over Hovland, Koepka and Horschel.
Morikawa’s win, his fourth on tour, came with his 8-degree TaylorMade SIM driver with a Mitsubishi Tensei White 70TX shaft – the same driver he had at last year’s PGA Championship – in the bag. His irons are a split set of TaylorMade’s relatively new P7MC and venerable P730 blades.
“When I switched to the blades, I found that I was able to control the ball a lot more,” Morikawa told Golf Digest in 2019. “I was able to work the ball and the contact felt so much more solid. I love working the ball left and right, especially my fades. But I can play it right-to-left , too. It was one of the best decisions I’ve made.”
Given his performance into the greens at The Concession, that would be difficult to argue.
What Collin Morikawa had in the bag at the WGC–Workday Championship:
Ball: TaylorMade TP5
Driver: TaylorMade SIM (Mitsubishi Tensei White 70TX), 8 degrees
3-wood: TaylorMade SIM, 14 degrees
Hybrid: TaylorMade SIM2, 19 degrees
Irons (4-6): TaylorMade P7MC, (7-PW): TaylorMade P730
Wedges: Titleist Vokey SM8 (52, 56 degrees); TaylorMade MG2 (60 degrees)
Putter: TaylorMade Spider FCG
