Collin Morikawa’s big revelation about beating Scottie Scheffler

It may seem like Scottie Scheffler wins every tournament he plays. Especially after the World No. 1 win in his first start of the season. But while he finished T4 at last week’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Scheffler didn’t make it. Collin Morikawa did.

Morikawa’s win was the culmination of a long pursuit to refine his game, and the win “took a lot of work” and “trial and error,” as he explained in his press conference ahead of this week’s 2026 Genesis Invitational.

But the two-time major champion also shared the biggest revelation he had about golf that helped him climb to the top of the World No. 1 to win his first PGA Tour event since 2023.

How Morikawa adjusted his game to end his winless drought

From 2019-2023, Morikawa captured six majors, with two major titles among them (the 2020 PGA Championship and the 2021 Open Championship). But after winning the 2023 Zozo Championship, Morikawa’s elite game seemed to disappear.

He did not win in 2024, and again failed to win a PGA Tour title in 2025. He still finished second in the 2024 FedEx Cup but dropped to 19th last season.

His struggles forced him to question what was wrong with his game, which led him to work hard for months trying to get back to where he was in his career.

“You can look and say, well, what’s wrong; why are you going down these paths, trying to find it and trying to find it – because I know deep down, I can’t go play that freedom of golf unless I find something,” explained Morikawa.

But sometimes overthinking can be detrimental to improving one’s game, as Morikawa said happened to him early in his career.

“Now, a lot of times I think you can get in your own way when you start adding too much and trying too hard. I think if I look back early in my career, yeah, maybe you tried to get better in one area but then you forgot to keep getting better in another area, and you lose a little bit,” Morikawa said. “The nerves and style of golf, you lose that, who you are.”

However, Morikawa was quick to explain that during his recent winless streak, he “didn’t hold back.” Instead, he had to first test and work on every part of his game to get to the point where he could play “free golf” on the course, which eventually happened at Pebble Beach.

“I had to keep trying because if I didn’t I wouldn’t be able to go out and play that free golf for four days,” said Morikawa. “I played it for two days last week [at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am]and it obviously won me the competition. But I want to keep going out, week in and week out, and play four days of golf like that.”

Morikawa’s revelation: ‘The big thing’ I learned about beating the best

Although Morikawa admitted that he still has a lot of work to do to be completely satisfied with his game, his Pebble Beach win proved that his development process is working.

And the big revelation he had about competing with the best golfers in the world had a lot to do with his recent success.

That revelation? If you want to beat the best players like Scheffler, you can’t copy what they do. Instead, you should learn what works best for you and pursue greatness within that framework.

“What I’ve learned the most is that you can’t copy someone else. You might be able to take it a little bit, but it’s because of Scottie [Scheffler] “doing something good doesn’t mean I have to do it,” said Morikawa.

He continued: “I think that’s something that I have to always remind myself that what I’m doing is my own thing, and that – hopefully I’m putting my best effort into it. It doesn’t mean that I can’t get good things out of what he’s doing, but I think a lot of people try and copy that approach and any formula that says, hey, this is how you’re going to play good golf.”

Ironically, Scheffler is perhaps the best proof of Morikawa’s point. He rode the perfect home swing to a dominance almost comparable to Tiger Woods’ greatest heights.

Collin Morikawa explains why he doesn’t use a yard book at home

Earlier in the pre-tournament press conference at the Riviera, Morikawa was asked this: if he could stop overthinking his game and stop the continuous improvement process he had described in detail, would he still be playing golf?

In response, Morikawa admitted that many of his habits came from “playing with the boys at home.” But he also explained the big difference between rounds with friends and tournament golf.

“I think what you’re describing is playing when you’re at home, sometimes you play with guys. Most of the times I’m used to playing with guys from home. It doesn’t matter how much money you play, it doesn’t matter what’s on the line. It’s always different than playing in a tournament. That’s right,” explained Morikawa.

To highlight his point, he revealed another interesting factoid about his practice: When he plays odd rounds, he never uses a yardage book.

“Discussion between your boyfriend, I look in the yard – I don’t look at the yard book at home. I don’t know if anyone looks at the yard book when they’re at home. If he does, props to him,” Morikawa joked. “But it’s a very different rhythm of things. I think you have to be able to, in competition, hone those skills and find what works for you.”

Based on last week’s win at Pebble Beach, Morikawa is finally feeling the paint.