Collin Morikawa credits wife en route to six-stroke victory at ZOZO Championship

Collin Morikawa gets emotional as he credits wife Katherine Zhu after winning on the PGA Tour.

22 Oct 2023

Collin Morikawa credits wife en route to six-stroke victory at ZOZO Championship

An emotional Collin Morikawa credited his wife Katherine Zhu after winning the ZOZO Championship on the PGA Tour.

Morikawa, 26, fired a stunning final-round 63 to overturn a two-stroke deficit at the start of the round into a six-stroke romp in Japan.

The win marks Morikawa's first since etching his name on the famous Claret Jug at the 2021 Open Championship.

Morikawa has now won six times on the PGA Tour.

Related: Who is Collin Morikawa's wife?

He ended the week at 14-under par.

Morikawa won $1.53m.

HOW MUCH THEY ALL EARNED AT THE ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP

Eric Cole and Beau Hossler finished six strokes behind in a tie for second.

First win as husband and wife pic.twitter.com/qSZ2qH6jDG
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) October 22, 2023

After the round, Morikawa was quick to pay tribute to his wife Katherine for helping him through his two-year winless spell.

They got married in November 2022.

An emotional Morikawa said:

"Yeah, she's been there rooting me on by my side. She doesn't need to give me a little boost of confidence, but she does. Just knowing that every day I have someone that believes in me not just because I play golf and I might be able to win, but just because of who I am. She means the world to me and I'm very lucky to have her day in and day out no matter what our lives would be like. So it's nice, but it's also nice to win. She hasn't been to a win since -- it's been a long time since she's actually been at the tournament since we won, so it's nice to have her here."

The win also meant a lot to Morikawa as he is half Japanese.

Morikawa said:

"This has been one of those tournaments -- there's a few tournaments that are highlighted on my schedule, whether it's L.A., Tiger's event at the Genesis, or this one, you know, when you have something to look back on, right? Being half Japanese and looking back at that and just being able to connect with the people out here, it means the world. When you're able to just kind of touch on that little aspect a little bit more, sometimes it pulls a little bit more out of you. When you're able to represent the United States, right, whether it's at the Ryder Cup or the Olympics, it just drives you that much more. I knew at the beginning of the week that the fans out here are obviously rooting for the Japanese players, but I like to count myself as apart Japanese player in that, so I felt the love. The fans have been incredible and I look forward to coming back many, many more times."

ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL LEADERBOARD

-14 C Morikawa (US)
-8 E Cole, B Hossler (US)
-7 R Ishikawa (Jap), R Shelton (US)

VIEW FULL SCORES HERE