Why did Collin Morikawa switch golf balls for the 2024 BMW Championship? All you need to know

The first round of the 2024 BMW Championship is underway with Collin Morikawa teeing off at 11:20 am MDT. Ranked fourth on the FedEx Cup Rankings, the 27-year-old is eager to win the championship as he makes a drastic change heading into the week.

Morikawa has been playing TaylorMade's TP5x golf ball the whole of the PGA Tour's 2024 Regular Season. However, for this week's BMW Championship, he will be switching the low-spinning ball for the higher-spinning TP5 golf ball. The PGA Tour star's main motive behind the change was to cope with the elevation in Colorado.

With the Castle Pines Golf Club at an elevation higher than 6,200 feet, the altitude is sure to give players a hard time in managing their distances. During his practice round earlier this week, Morikawa had noticed that he lacked precision and control with his golf ball. Due to the change in altitude altering his ball flight, he made the change to the TP5.

Here's what he had to say about the change prior to the start of the 2024 BMW Championship (via PGA Tour):

"Look, my first three and half to four years, I played the TP5, and I’ve played the spinnier ball. I noticed the (TP5x) just fit the perfect windows for me a lot. (With the TP5x) I lived in the lower end of spin, but I’ve just noticed with my swing, it’s teetering on the low end. We’re at 6,000 feet, a lot of elevation changes. If I hit some of these balls with low spin, it’s not going to look like a pretty flight. I’m debating going back to the spinnier ball. It’s something I’ve played for awhile, so it’d be a change, but it’s something I think I’d be comfortable with.”

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Collin Morikawa 2024 PGA Tour season results

Collin Morikawa has made 19 starts on the PGA Tour so far this year and has made the cut in 17 events. Despite missing the cut at the Farmers Insurace Open and the Arnold Palmer Invitational early in the season, he has recorded seven top-ten finishes including one runner-up finish.

Here's a look at his finishes so far:

• The Sentry - T5
• Farmers Insurance Open - CUT
• AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am - T14
• Genesis Invitational - T19
• Arnold Palmer Invitational - CUT
• Players Championship - T45
• Valero Texas Open - T75
• Augusta Masters - T3
• RBC Heritage - 9th place
• Zurich Classic of New Orleans - T23
• Wells Fargo Championship - T16
• PGA Championship - T4
• Charles Schwab Challenge - 4th place
• Memorial Tournament - 2nd place
• US Open - T14
• Travelers Championship - T13
• Genesis Scottish Open - T4
• Open Championship - T16
• FedEx St. Jude Championship - T22