Collin Morikawa reflects on his double chip-in at 2022 Genesis Invitational

At last year’s Genesis Invitational, Collin Morikawa led the best of the rest as the field tried to catch eventual winner, Joaquin Niemann, who went wire-to-wire to pick up his second PGA Tour victory at The Riviera Country Club.

However, it was Morikawa’s short game magic on Sunday that provided the final round fireworks and ahead of this year’s event he has spoken exclusively to Eurosport about his short game brilliance.

Morikawa shot an impressive six-under-par 65 in the final round but a bogey on the par-4 3rd was far from ideal as he was eight shots back of Neimann, who has since defected to LIV Golf.

He battled on but after hitting a pull from the tee on the 7th, Morikawa left himself below the green facing a tricky uphill chip shot.

Despite facing a daunting task, the two-time major champion opened up the face of his wedge and let the club slide under the ball perfectly, demonstrating impeccably soft hands and elegance with his shot selection.

“Seven came off perfect. I knew it was going to be very, very good because it came off so spinny and that’s how we love to feel these. This one came off exactly on target and pretty much how I wanted,” recalled the 26-year-old.

Still buoyed by what he achieved on the 7th, the young American notched another birdie right before the turn and then headed to the par-4 10th.

Despite being a driveable hole, the 10th is notoriously tricky and requires smart shot selection. If going with a driver it’s all about landing it and leaving it in the right spot, should you deviate from that plan then the narrow, sloping green, that is guarded by a long strategically-placed bunker on the right and a further three encasing the back edge, becomes your enemy.

However, a player of Morikawa’s calibre, who has six professional wins on his resume including the 2021 Open Championship, would be up to the task. He unleashed from the tee and his ball would eventually nestle on the correct side of the green, just shy on the fringe.

“That’s one spot on the green that you actually want to leave it. I mean, it’s a very narrow window because if I missed two yards, right, I’m going to be screwed.

“I’m going to have to probably either chip to the front edge and have a long lag putt or maybe chipping over the front left into the fairway and chipping back up, so I had a great spot and great lie.”

Pulling the same club that had brought him success earlier in the round, Morikawa nipped the ball from the surface and after a couple of fiery hops forward, it rattled into the hole for an eagle.

“I know it looks like it went in with some speed, it would have checked up and been about three feet but you know, I have two chip-ins in a span of about three holes, especially on 10 at Riv [Riviera], you know, I think I was my first two on that hole, it’s pretty special to kind of finish out that last step.” said Morikawa, reflecting on his second chip-in of the day.

He added: “I had to throw it, you could see how much height I threw on it. You had to have spin, you had to have everything. You know, sometimes you can throw it high and you don’t need as much spin. Sometimes you can throw it low and get spin. This you needed kind of both.

“I was a little into the grain there, it’s a little grainy, but sometimes days like that work out and it never left the pin.

“It looked perfect from my angle and I was just very happy to see that ball in, get out and move on to the next hole.”