“I don’t know if that was a compliment” – Collin Morikawa gives cheeky reply to an analyst’s critique

Collin Morikawa burst onto the scene on the PGA Tour in 2019. After turning pro, he took the golf world by storm. He earned his first major title with the PGA Championship shortly after and kept rolling for the next couple of years to win the Open Championship as well.

However, the American has been winless so far this season, even though he has played at a fairly high level. An interviewer asked the golfer about something an analyst had pointed out about his struggles.

Trevor Immelman said that Morikawa came into the Tour with such success that he made it difficult for himself to repeat that. Interviewer Todd Lewis asked him about it, according to Golf.com, to which Morikawa replied:

“Wow, that’s hard to hear from him. Yeah, I could care less what he says there, ’cause I don’t think that’s my bar. I think I have got so much more to improve."

He went on:

"I have been near last on putting; I don’t think I have even finished close to being average in putting, and if I just get my putting to be average I think there is so much more to improve. I don’t know. I don’t know where that came from, but it kind of stings there. I don’t like to hear that.”

It was then clarified that what Immelman said was meant as a compliment, but Morikawa wasn't convinced, saying:

"I don’t know if that was a compliment; I’ll be honest. If he did, maybe it came off wrong from what I heard. For me, I just have never seen a ceiling. I want to keep improving."

He continued:

"Obviously, we took a couple of steps back this year, but it’s just trying to get better every day and improve on little things. I expect myself to play well, I set really high goals for myself. It just sucks when they don’t come through.”

---

How good was Collin Morikawa?

The golfer has only been a professional since 2019, but already has nine wins under his belt. He's earned five of those on the PGA Tour and the rest on the European Tour.

He's placed as high as fifth in the Masters in 2022. He won the PGA Championship in 2020.

The Masters - Final Round (Image: Getty)

Morikawa placed fourth in the U.S. Open in 2021, but took home the trophy for the Open Championship that same year.

The 25-year-old has been ranked as high as second in the world rankings, though he never quite topped the leaderboard.

The American was also the Race to Dubai winner in 2021. He had several good years leading into 2022 but has struggled to replicate his early success.