Collin Morikawa Daily Fantasy News, Rankings, Projections

Many people may feel that Morikawa is in over his head as a 21 year old playing in his first Tour Championship. Again, I’ll reiterate the fact that he has three (3) career wins, one (1) major championship, and two (2) career missed cuts. He struggled to start the week at Olympia Fields, but he closed with 68-68 to climb from around 50th place to 20th place by the time the week was over. His weekend scores were among the best marks in the field, and he gained almost four strokes from tee to green in those two rounds. It is safe to say that he has shaken off his post-PGA Championship hangover, and it wouldn’t shock me at all if he shows the moxie to come into East Lake and contend. If the ownership ends up trending lower, that makes it even better. Morikawa is already an elite player with his tee to green game, and all he needs is a steady short game week in order to contend.

Many people may feel that Morikawa is in over his head as a 21 year old playing in his first Tour Championship. Again, I’ll reiterate the fact that he has three (3) career wins, one (1) major championship, and two (2) career missed cuts. He struggled to start the week at Olympia Fields, but he closed with 68-68 to climb from around 50th place to 20th place by the time the week was over. His weekend scores were among the best marks in the field, and he gained almost four strokes from tee to green in those two rounds. It is safe to say that he has shaken off his post-PGA Championship hangover, and it wouldn’t shock me at all if he shows the moxie to come into East Lake and contend. If the ownership ends up trending lower, that makes it even better. Morikawa is already an elite player with his tee to green game, and all he needs is a steady short game week in order to contend.

While current form is definitely a bonus as the Tour heads to a venue that nobody has seen in a long time, I have no qualms about targeting Morikawa after a missed cut. In fact, his “hangover” missed cut last week was almost predictable as he came down from the high of winning his first career major. He still has more wins (three) than missed cuts (two) in his brief career. That is simply remarkable. Morikawa will not be at an experience disadvantage on this course, and his elite ball striking should shine on a more difficult layout. He ranks inside the top 50 on Tour in total driving, ball striking, and par four scoring, and the only major weakness in his game is the occasional short game slip up. I expect him to get back in the mix this week, and he is a great option in any format.

If you have followed this space for any length of time, you know that I am a huge Morikawa fan. What he was able to do at the Workday Charity Open was something special. If you did not follow that event, Morikawa was three strokes behind Justin Thomas with three holes to play. He was able to force a playoff. In the first playoff hole, Thomas buried a 52 foot birdie putt. Morikawa responded by making a 24 footer of his own before winning on the next playoff hole. The kid is something special. Nothing phases him, and he is already one of the best iron players in the game. Very few of these players have seen TPC Harding Park in competitive action, so Morikawa is not at a disadvantage from that perspective — and he is a quick study at new venues. Don’t let the lack of experience turn you away from a golfer who has two wins in just 26 career PGA Tour starts.

Morikawa’s great start to his career continued with his second victory in 24 PGA Tour starts just a few weeks ago at the Workday Charity Open. He took last week off and should be rested and ready to go. He is yet another golfer who is a great fit on a course that rewards good ball striking, as TPC Southwind does. As such, it is of little concern to me that he does not have any competitive rounds on this course in the past. That hasn’t stopped him from competing for victories at other venues.

Morikawa is still young, but I am one of his biggest fans. He is going to be a star on the PGA Tour for a long time, and his lack of experience at Colonial will not deter me from targeting him even in a strong field. His iron play is absolutely phenomenal, and he will be one of the better mid-range plays for this event. For what it’s worth, he is one of my favorite outright bets of the week at 40 or 45-to-1 if you are in a state that allows sports betting. Morikawa has not missed a single cut in eleven starts this season, and he has not finished worse than 42nd in any event. The youngster has the longest active made cut streak on Tour at 21 starts. That’s incredible for a player that is only 23 years old. He brings a nice combination of safety and upside to the table and is a great play in any format.

While I think it’s prudent to try to start with Justin Thomas in some lineups, I’m all on board the Morikawa train. His ball striking is absolutely elite, and this course is a perfect fit for his skill set. He grew up in California and is familiar with these poa greens, and he won the Barracuda Championship last year… in Nevada on poa greens. That win doesn’t get discussed much because it is an alternate field event, but Morikawa is thriving at a young age on the PGA Tour. He’s a phenomenal talent who should have a great season, and the only reason he’s not popping in a ton of models is because he didn’t have enough 2018-2019 rounds to qualify in a lot of statistical metrics. Don’t let that scare you away. He’s the real deal.

Out of all the new college graduates coming onto the PGA Tour, none has impressed more than Morikawa. That’s saying something, too, as both Matthew Wolff and Viktor Hovland have enjoyed immediate success in their own right. Morikawa’s iron play is downright ridiculous. He doesn’t have enough rounds to qualify statistically yet, but the results speak for themselves. He has made the cut in all seven PGA Tour events in which he has appeared, with 36th being his WORST finish in the bunch. He has posted three top five finishes and has already won an event. Even though it was the weak field Barracuda Championship, he showed impressive closing ability by finishing with three straight birdies. If not for a ridiculous finish by Wolff, Morikawa could have won the 3M tournament as well. Many DFS gamers might ignore him at this price in a strong field, and while this is a step up in class, don’t forget that he also played well at the U.S. Open when he was still an amateur. He is a great GPP play in this spot.