AUGUSTA, Ga. – Collin Morikawa was a Masters rookie at last fall’s tournament. In some ways he’s still a Masters rookie.
The 24-year-old tied for 44th in November but admitted Monday at Augusta National that it was a much different golf course in the fall than the one players will face this week.
“You’re not going to see certain balls stop. I remember, I think someone that I played with in the Sunday final round on 7, stopped their ball in the middle of that slope, like the middle of the green on the right,” Morikawa said. “I’m like, that’s not possible. It’s never possible. I’ve never seen it.”
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This week will be more of what Morikawa imagined when he dreamed of playing the Masters growing up, as long as the forecast remains unchanged and the golf course continues to firm up.
The biggest difference this week will be the speed of the greens and the need to focus on the pace of certain putts compared to how the greens played in November. But even with a vastly different course this week, Morikawa contends he’s no longer a rookie.
“I felt like a rookie then. It’s still the same golf course, but it’s going to play a lot different with certain shots,” he said. “That’s why you just kind of come out here on a Monday, and by Wednesday you just figure out what I need to do. But line-wise, I think, off the tees, everything, they are pretty similar.”
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