Collin Morikawa Ends 28-Month Drought With Grit, Artistry, and a 4-Iron Masterclass at Pebble Beach
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. - Collin Morikawa stood in the 18th fairway at Pebble Beach, staring down 235 yards into a stiff left-to-right wind. He had a 4-iron in hand and 20 long minutes to wait as Jacob Bridgeman sorted out a ruling, took a drop, and finally putted out. It was a delay that felt like an eternity - and in many ways, it mirrored the 28-month stretch since Morikawa last hoisted a PGA Tour trophy.
But when the moment finally came, Morikawa didn’t flinch. He flushed that 4-iron just right of the green, set himself up for a two-putt birdie, and sealed a one-shot victory at the 2026 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am - his seventh career PGA Tour win and his first since late 2021.
The win ended a stretch that, for a player of Morikawa’s pedigree, felt unusually long. This is a guy who won two majors in his first seven tries and has been a fixture on U.S. national teams since turning pro. But golf has a way of humbling even the most talented players, and for Morikawa, the last couple of years have been a test of patience, perspective, and perseverance.
“I’m older and have more scar tissue,” Morikawa said, “but deep down I believe I can still do this.”
That belief had been tested. Since his win at the 2020 British Open, Morikawa had only one victory to his name.
He’d made changes - new coaches, new caddies, even a new physio team to help him add 10 pounds of... something. “Some muscle,” he joked.
“I’m not going to say 10 pounds of muscle.”
But the results weren’t immediate. He missed the cut in Hawaii to start the season, then finished a disappointing T-54 in Phoenix.
That made nine straight starts without a top-10 finish, dating back to late June. At one point, he even questioned whether he’d wasted the past two and a half months.
Last Friday, frustrated and searching, Morikawa picked up the phone and called Rick Sessinghaus - his childhood swing coach, who he’d reconnected with nearly two years ago. Sessinghaus gave him the kind of pep talk only someone who’s known you since junior golf can deliver. And from there, something clicked.
Morikawa found his rhythm on the weekend and put on an absolute clinic. On Saturday, he hit all 18 greens in regulation, poured in 11 birdies, and carded a 10-under 62. His ball-striking was off the charts - he gained 6.472 strokes on the field with his approach shots, the best in Pebble Beach Pro-Am history and second-best in the ShotLink era.
By Sunday, the leaderboard was jam-packed. Nine players were within two shots of the lead as the final group made the turn.
But Morikawa stayed steady. He birdied three of his last four holes, including that final birdie at 18 that gave him the edge over Min Woo Lee and Sepp Straka, who both finished one back.
There was a hiccup at 17 - a bogey that dropped him back into a tie with Lee - but Morikawa didn’t let it rattle him. He stayed composed, trusted his game, and delivered when it mattered most.
“It felt like any other day,” said caddie Mark Urbanek. “That’s awesome and extremely hard to do. All credit to him for coming out with a great attitude, and understanding it’s going to be a hard day, and things might not always go our way.”
Urbanek knows Morikawa as well as anyone inside the ropes. And while Morikawa is often labeled a “robot” for his precision and consistency, Urbanek saw something different this week - a return to feel, to artistry.
“He just kind of got back to hitting shots and being a shot maker,” Urbanek said. “That’s what he does best.”
Morikawa echoed that sentiment, admitting that he’d gotten too caught up in trying to make golf perfect - chasing the ideal swing, the perfect putt, the textbook shot. But Pebble Beach reminded him that golf isn’t just a science. It’s also an art.
“We’re artists at heart,” Morikawa said. “I’ve gone away from that a little bit.”
Not on Sunday. Not on Pebble’s iconic par-3 seventh, where he pulled a 9-iron and trusted his feel. Not on 18, where he waited, regrouped, and then delivered a 4-iron that will be remembered for a long time.
Waiting behind the green to congratulate him was Russell Henley, who had edged Morikawa by a stroke 11 months ago at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. This time, Henley had no doubt.
“He’s got a 4-iron. That’s his club,” Henley said.
Straka, who eagled the final hole to tie for second and played alongside Morikawa in the final group, was just as impressed.
“He’s one of the best iron players of our generation, probably,” Straka said. “He likes to cut it, so it makes it even harder with that wind blowing 25, 30 off your left. That is a pretty special shot to put it away there.”
And for Morikawa, that moment was everything. After making bogey at the fifth hole, he remembered thinking, “Man, I love being in this position.”
That’s the competitor in him. The artist.
The ball-striker. The guy who never stopped believing, even when the results didn’t come.
Now, with a trophy back in hand and a baby on the way this May, Morikawa is once again showing the golf world exactly who he is - not just a technician, but a shot-maker. An artist. And a winner.