Collin Morikawa labels decision to hit driver Oakmont's crazy hole 'ridiculous'

The U.S. Open has not even begun yet but Collin Morikawa has made his feelings clear over how he feels about one hole at Oakmont. 

In case you haven't heard, the eighth hole is one of the longest par-3s in the world and we are expecting carnage this week. 

The 300-yard hole will be the longest par-3 in U.S. Open history and some players have already expressed their discontent. 

Viktor Hovland, for example, told reporters before the Memorial he thinks long par-3s are 'a little silly'. 

Golden Bear Jack Nicklaus went one step further by describing the eighth as 'crazy'. 

Justin Thomas simply said: "Yeah, that's not my favourite hole in the world."

Morikawa got his first proper taste of the eighth on Tuesday when he played a practice round alongside Xander Schauffele. 

Footage captured by the DP World Tour's content team showed Morikawa in deep conversation with his recently-appointed caddie Joe Greiner. 

Said Greiner: "That's why if you want to make the best score possible, you have to hit driver, because it's the widest area. It's 303 [yards to the] back edge."

Morikawa asked: "Am I the only one hitting driver? I mean this just seems ridiculous."

Schauffele chimed in: "It's the perfect club. You don't look very comfortable."

Morikawa explained that he did not know what type of shot he was trying to hit and felt as though he needed to take a little off it.

We didn't get to see where Morikawa's shot ended up but by the sounds of it he nuked that TP5x. 

Take a look at the clip here:

Collin Morikawa chasing elusive win

Morikawa comes into the U.S. Open trying to secure his first win since the 2023 ZOZO Championship in Japan. 

The closest he came to ending his drought was at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. 

Morikawa held a one-shot lead with two holes to play at Bay Hill but watched Russell Henley chip in for eagle to pip Morikawa to the title. 

He followed that near-miss with a T14 at The Masters. 

Following his performance at Augusta National, Morikawa made the surprising decision to replace his long-time caddie JJ Jakovac with Max Homa's former looper Joe Greiner. 

The Greiner and Morikawa partnership yielded at T50 finish at the PGA Championship. 

Morikawa then told reporters he had played 'pathetic f---ing' golf'. 

He was in the mix after 54 holes but made far too many errors in the final round. 

"When I am giving away shots that I feel like I shouldn't — and me being, I feel like, a mentally strong player — that's what's frustrating," he said. 

He added: "I set high standards for myself, and when you don’t reach them, sometimes you go a little crazy. 

"But sometimes it wakes you up. For me, at the end of the day, it’s like, how do I just wake up a little bit more, to be firing. 

"You can see the competitiveness in Scottie, right? You can really see that through. 

"That's what I need to kind of pull out of myself again, because that's what I had when I first came out."