This article is part of our Weekly PGA Recap series.
While many of you were sleeping on Saturday night, Collin Morikawa was over in Japan doing something he was expected to have done long ago: win his sixth PGA Tour event.
Morikawa ended a more than two-year winless drought by rallying with a lights-out 7-under 63 to cruise to a six-shot victory at the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP. It was his first Tour victory since the 2021 Open Championship some 27 months ago.
The 26-year-old Morikawa burst on the scene along with Viktor Hovland and Matthew Wolff in the famed college graduating class of 2019, and in about two calendar years he racked up five wins and two majors, and zoomed to No. 2 in the world rankings. But after a fallow period that did include some close calls, he entered this week having fallen to No. 20.
Still one of the game's most accurate drivers and elite iron players, Morikawa's troubles have been centered from 100 yards and in. He began the week ranked 92nd in Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green and 112th in SG: Putting. Those aren't terrible numbers, and it is fair to ask why someone who was an elite second in SG: Approach and fourth in SG: Tee-to-Green could not pick off a win at some point.
Notably, Morikawa collapsed in a tournament at the beginning of this year, when Jon Rahm beat him by nine shots on Sunday to steal the Sentry Tournament of Champions.
Coming in to the week, Morikawa had only two top-10s since the Masters. He wasn't sharp at all in the Ryder Cup a few weeks back. But this course at Narashino Country Club, with an emphasis on accuracy and a deemphasis on short game, suits Morikawa's game to a tee. Throw in a limited 78-man field with lots of lesser golfers and a lot aligned for Morikawa this week.
It helped that his putter was the best we've seen in years, maybe ever. He ranked second in the field and, combined with being third in greens in regulation, that will win you a golf tournament just about every time out. After beginning Saturday's third round with a double bogey, Morikawa played the final 35 holes in 13-under. You can't do that without making putts – a lot of them.
Morikawa will jump back to 13th in the world rankings. Maybe this opens the door to more wins. Like we said, his short game and putting are not that bad.
But it will take some time before we find out. Morikawa likely will play only once more in 2023, at Tiger Woods' Hero World Challenge in early December. And then after that it will be January and a return to Kapalua – where for three rounds earlier this year it looked like that elusive sixth win for Morikawa was all but certain.
At the ZOZO, Morikawa left no doubt.
MONDAY BACKSPIN
Eric Cole
Cole has played a whopping 36 events since the season began last September, including all four so far in FedEx Cup fall. Fatigue clearly has not been an issue for the 35-year-old, who had two top-5s already in the fall before notching a third with a co-runner-up at the ZOZO. One of the more improbable seasons on Tour in recent memory keeps getting better.
Beau Hossler
Hossler has been taking advantage of the fall tournaments, playing in all four so far, tying for seventh at the Shriners last week and finishing shared second at the ZOZO. Hossler was already up to 51st place in the point standings – that's as high as anyone can go since the top-50 are locked. So he'll surely stay inside the so-called Next 10 and qualify for the first two Signature events at Pebble Beach and Riviera next year.
Ryo Ishikawa
The former teenage sensation is now 32 -- middle age for a golfer. His career never developed as was expected, and he has been residing in the 200s in the world rankings of late. But for one week at least, Ishikawa put it all together. He wound up tied for fourth, just the fourth top-10 in his 157 starts on the PGA tour.
Robby Shelton
Shelton doesn't seem like a guy who could get into such a limited field. But with many top golfers declining spots during their de facto offseason, Shelton not only got in, he tied for fourth. It was just his third top-10 of the year and first since January. He had missed half of his 32 cuts on the season, including six of seven coming in.
J.J. Spaun
Spaun was heading toward a runner-up finish with a very good Sunday before a soul-crushing double on the 15th, then another bogey on 16. Still, the week proved fruitful for Spaun, who moved into 56th place in the point standings. If he can stay in the 50s for three more tournaments, Spaun would get into the first two Signature events of 2024 at Pebble Beach and Riviera.
Kensei Hirata
The 22-year-old tied for sixth, and the youngster may be someone to keep an eye. He's played in only one tournament out of Asia, missing the cut at the Open Championship in July. Hirata has won twice in Japan is 2023 and entered the week 317th in the world. But if the ZOZO is any indication, he should be moving up in 2024.
Ryo Hisatsune
Hisatsune is even younger than Hirata, and better. The 21-year-old also tied for sixth, making it a very productive week for the Japan contingent. Hisatsune was ranked 103rd in the world, so this will move him inside the top-100 – surely someone to keep an eye on in 2024. He is coming off a win not in Japan but in France on the DP World Tour. It wasn't the best field, but Tom Kim and Billy Horschel were in it. We may see Hisatsune, Hirata and Ishikawa again very soon -- by finishing in the top-10, they get spots in the World Wide Technology Championship in Mexico in two weeks if they want them.
Min Woo Lee
Lee was coming off a win at something called the SJM Macao Open on the Asian Tour, which is exactly what he should've done in a field in which he was by far the top golfer. Against far stiffer competition at the ZOZO, the Australian tied for sixth, to further move inside the top-50 in the world.
Justin Suh
Suh was the 54-hole leader, but he endured one of the toughest rounds on Sunday with a 4-over 74 and plummeted down the leaderboard into a tie for 10th. Suh is trying to get into that Next 10 in the point standings. He still has time, now sitting in 77th place, but he may not get a better chance than he had this week.
Emiliano Grillo
The leaderboard will suggest a good week for Grillo with a tie for 10th, but he shot over par on Sunday with a 71.
Sungjae Im
This tournament does not mean as much to Im as Hideki Matsuyama, but playing a PGA Tour event in Asia is still a pretty big deal for the Korean. Im fared far better than Matsuyama, tying for 12th.
Satoshi Kodaira
The veteran Kodaira began the week in 183rd place in the point standings, so his realistic goal may be to get into the 126-150 category by the end of the fall season. Until the back nine on Sunday, he had moved up that far. But a bogey-bogey-double stretch dropped him into a tie for 12th, which left him in 154th place. There are still three more events for Kodaira to move up, perhaps even higher than the 126-150 category.
Cam Davis
Davis continued his impressive fall season, though he did just miss a fifth top-10 in isx starts with a tie for 12th. Davis could be in for a breakthrough 2024.
Keegan Bradley
Bradley got out of the gate quickly on Thursday as he began defense of his title. He couldn't sustain it, though, and moved down the pack before finishing in a tie for 18th. It was Bradley's first start since the Tour Championship in August, so maybe expecting a better week was unrealistic.
Xander Schauffele
We've seen Schauffele twice during the fall – at the Ryder Cup and now. And he was mediocre in both instances. At the ZOZO, he ranked 66th in the field in putting and was only 19th in greens in regulation, which added up to a tie for 38th.
Hideki Matsuyama
Matsuyama had not played since he withdrew from the BMW Championship with a back injury. So the first goal this week was playing all four rounds. Mission accomplished. Other than that, not much. Matsuyama tied for 46th in a tournament he won two years ago
Rickie Fowler
It was a forgettable trip overseas for Fowler, who collapsed on Sunday with a 6-over 76 to fall into a tie for 64th. When you are 64th out of 78, not much goes right. But putting on the slower bentgrass greens proved most problematic for Fowler, who ranked 73rd in the field on Sunday and 77th for the week.
FEDEXCUP STANDINGS
With the limited field not featuring many lower-ranked guys, there was no movement this week in or out of the top 125 in the standings. And Spaun was the only golfer to move into the Next 10, knocking out Sam Ryder. The PGA Tour is idle this coming week, returning in two weeks in Mexico.
