DUBLIN, Ohio — Collin Morikawa prepared for this week’s 49th edition of the Memorial Tournament hanging out for a few days with a guy who won Jack Nicklaus’ tournament a record five times. Tiger Woods left him in awe.
Morikawa appeared at a clinic with the 15-time major winner last week in Las Vegas at the 21st edition of Woods’ charity event, Tiger Jam. Not surprisingly, Woods did two things you’d expect him to do if you know him at all—talk trash and back it up.
The two were on the driving range at Shadow Creek hitting balls and giving the assembled crowd a show. We’ll let Morikawa explain from here how Woods, 48, showed up his young guest.
“He was making fun of me not being able to hit a draw, so I hit a draw; it was like a 5-yard draw,” Morikawa, 27, said. “And then he hit a hook, and I swear he was aiming like 3 feet from the line of people that were on the right side. The skill and the feel is still all there, right?”
Morikawa, whose six PGA Tour wins includes the Workday Charity Open at Muirfield Village Golf Club in 2020, the week before the Memorial Tournament was held that year, expressed awe not only in how well Woods still can hit a golf ball, but also awe that he shared the stage with the Hall of Famer.
“I’m very lucky to have that opportunity to go and do something like that, to talk to him, to hang out, because you go back and you look at your 15-year-old self, your 10-year-old self and you say, ‘Yeah, you’re going to go spend a few hours with Tiger playing poker, hitting golf balls on the range, picking his brain, screwing around’ … you know, that’s a dream, right? So that’s pretty cool.”
Woods made the cut in the Masters for a record 25th year in a row, but he struggled a few weeks ago in the PGA Championship in missing the cut at Valhalla Golf Club, where he won the 2000 PGA. Next week, Woods is scheduled to compete in the 124th U.S. Open at Pinehurst, where he’ll play on a special exemption.
Morikawa was asked if he’d like to see Woods take a cart at regular events, given his ball-striking proficiency.
“Yeah, but his ego’s pretty big, you know, as is all of ours,” Morikawa said. “I just think he wants to keep doing it until he can’t, and maybe there’s something about a golf cart that’s just, you know, ain’t it. I would be taking a golf cart if they allowed me. I would love to.”