Collin Morikawa’s big reveal about beating Scottie Scheffler

It might look like Scottie Scheffler wins every tournament he plays. Especially after the world number 1 won his first start of the season. But while he finished T4 at last week’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Scheffler didn’t win. Collin Morikawa did it.

Morikawa’s win was the culmination of a long effort to improve his game, and the win “took a lot of work” and “trial and error,” as he explained in his pre-match press conference this week. 2026 Genesis Invitation.

But two-time grand champion also shared a major golf discovery he had that helped him lead the world No.1 to win his first PGA Tour event since 2023.

How Morikawa refined his game to end his winless drought

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

He went winless in 2024, and then again failed to win a PGA Tour title in 2025. He still finished second in the 2024 FedEx Cup standings, but he fell to 19th last season.

His efforts forced him ask what was going wrong with his gamewhich led to months of hard work to try to get back to where he was before in his career.

“You can look and say, well, what’s wrong; why are you going out on these trails, trying to figure it out and trying to get — because I know deep down, I’m not going to be able to go and play the freedom of golf if I don’t understand something,” Morikawa explained.

But sometimes overthinking can become a detriment to improving one’s game, as Morikawa said happened to him earlier in his career.

“Now, a lot of times I think you can get in your way where you start adding too much and you’re trying too hard. I think if I look back at the beginning of my career, yeah, maybe you tried to get better in one area, but then you forgot to keep improving in another area and you lost a little bit,” Morikawa said. “The senses and the style of golf, you lose it, who you are.”

However, Morikawa was quick to explain that during his recent winless drought, he didn’t “get in his own way”. Instead, he first had to examine and work on every part of his game to get to a point where he could play “free golf” on the course, which is what finally happened at Pebble Beach.

“I had to keep trying things because if I didn’t, I wouldn’t be able to go out and play golf for free for four days,” Morikawa said. “I played him for two days last week (at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am) and it definitely won me the tournament. But I want to be able to continue to go out week after week and play four days of golf like him.”

Morikawa’s Discovery: The ‘Biggest Thing’ I’ve Learned About Beating the Best

While Morikawa admitted he still has a lot of work to do to be fully satisfied with his game, his victory at Pebble Beach proved that its intensive improvement process is working.

And a breakthrough he had about competing against the best players in the world had a lot to do with his recent success.

This revelation? If you want to beat top players like Scheffler, you can’t copy what they’re doing. Instead, you need to learn what works best for you and pursue greatness within that framework.

“The biggest thing I’ve learned is that you just can’t copy anybody else. You might be able to get a little bit, but just because Scottie (Scheffler) is doing something big doesn’t mean I have to go do it,” Morikawa revealed.

He continued: “I think that’s something that I have to keep reminding myself that what I’m doing is my thing, and that’s – hopefully I’m giving it my best shot. It doesn’t mean I can’t take good things from what he’s doing, but I think a lot of people try to copy exactly whatever formula he says, hey, this is how you’re going to be fine.”

Ironically, Scheffler is perhaps the best proof of Morikawa’s point. He has ridden a completely home-grown pace in a stretch of dominance that can only be matched by Tiger Woods’ the greatest heights.

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

Earlier in his pre-tournament press conference at Riviera, Morikawa was asked this question: If he stopped overthinking his game and gave up the continuous improvement process he has detailed, would he still be good at golf?

In response, Morikawa admitted that most of his practice comes from “playing with the boys at home.” But he also explained the massive difference between rounds with friends and tournament golf.

“I think what you’re describing is a kind of game where you’re at home sometimes and playing with the guys. A lot of my practice is playing against the guys at home. It doesn’t matter how much money you’re playing for, it doesn’t matter what’s on the line. It’s always different than playing in a tournament. It is,” Morikawa explained.

To emphasize his point, he revealed another interesting fact about his practice: When he plays casual rounds, he never uses a board book.

“Conversing between your caddies, looking at the yard — I don’t look at a yard book at home. I don’t know that anyone looks at a yard book when they’re at home. If they do, lean on them,” Morikawa joked. “But it’s a very different pace of things. I think you just have to be able, in a tournament, to develop those skills and figure out what works for you.”

Based on last week’s Pebble Beach triumph, Morikawa is finally feeling called.