Collin Morikawa weighs in on enduring golf debate: "They gave me hate for it!"

Collin Morikawa has made his feelings clear about one of the biggest debates in men's professional golf ahead of The Open Championship at Royal Liverpool.

Ben Smith

18 Jul 2023

Collin Morikawa weighs in on enduring golf debate: "They gave me hate for it!" — Collin Morikawa weighs in on enduring golf debate: "They gave me hate for…

Collin Morikawa has offered his thoughts on one of the biggest debates in men's professional golf.

That would be whether to call it The Open or British Open. Over at GolfMagic, we are firmly in 'The Open' camp.

Though as far as Morikawa is concerned, when you've won the Claret Jug you can call it whatever you like.

He explained to reporters at Royal Liverpool ahead of the 151st Open Championship:

"I definitely called it the British Open the year I won and then people gave me hate for it, so then I called it The Open last year, but I played better when I called it the British Open, so I might call it the British Open.

"But obviously British pertains to certain parts of Europe, but I guess -- I'm not too good with this whole geography, world stuff.

"I think people understand whether you say British Open or The Open. At the end of the day if you win it you can call it whatever the hell you want."

Collin Morikawa weighs in on enduring golf debate:

"This might be one of my favourite pairings I've ever had"

Morikawa heads into the final men's major of the year without a victory.

He finished T-10 at The Masters, 26th at the PGA Championship and T-14 at the U.S. Open.

The American is hoping that he's turned the corner after his most recent PGA Tour start at the Rocket Mortgage Classic.

Morikawa lost in a playoff to Rickie Fowler in Detroit but said he's feeling somewhat 'back to normal'.

He explained:

"It didn't feel like it was out of the norm. It just felt like, man, we're here to make birdies, we're here to win the tournament. The playoff didn't go the way I wanted, but it just felt comfortable.

"To know that that's still there, that's the best feeling.

"Yes, absolutely I do want to be back on top. I know it's going to come. I don't know when. Hopefully this week. But it's going to happen. It's just putting everything together, hitting the right shots, and like I said earlier, having things go your way, so hopefully it's this week."

Morikawa is playing the first 36 holes alongside England's Tyrrell Hatton and fellow American Max Homa.

The American spoke fondly of Hatton despite the Englishman dividing opinion somewhat with his fiery temper.

He said:

"I call him a really, really good friend and he's obviously a lot of fun to play with.

"But Tyrrell, when people as me who I like to play with I say his name because it's entertaining. It's enjoyable. But it's no hate against you. He doesn't disrupt you. He doesn't slow you down. We're fast players.

"His caddie, Mick, is also incredible. You ask that question, I mean, we literally talked about it 20 minutes ago at lunch with my caddie. It truly is one of the best pairings I could ask for.

"I enjoy it. He's a lot of fun. He's never really that negative. He'll talk to you at any point, even if he is mad. We've seen a lot of those moments.

"But he is a really good guy. He does have a good time, but he's very professional in a sense of like respecting his other playing partners for sure."

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