By Kent Gray
You know how the best players in the world make golf look so simple? Don’t be fooled.

Collin Morikawa has arrived at the Slync.io Dubai Desert Classic completely flummoxed as to the whereabouts of the game that has taken him to world No.2.

After a tidy share of fifth at the Sentry Tournament of Champions in Hawaii, the 24-year-old PGA Tour star was literally blown away in Abu Dhabi last week, finishing the DP World Tour’s calendar year opener in a five-over-par tie for 62nd. 

“Yeah, I have a lot to work on,” Morikawa said. “Spent all afternoon yesterday working. It was probably the hardest, longest I’ve worked in a while pre-tournament like on a Monday but it’s good. Sometimes you need to have that kind of reset button and really figure out and dive deep. I had my agent and my caddie and we were just literally sitting on the range for hours trying to figure out what to do.”

The challenge for Morikawa is that his debut in Dubai last year was a struggle too, a tie for 68th.

At least he can draw on the memories of last year when he won the WGC-Workday Championship in February, struggled, then found the reset button to claim the Claret Jug, the DP World Tour Championship and with it, the Harry Vardon trophy as the first ever American to become European No.1. The turning point was the Scottish Open where Morikawa finished a lowly T71 the week before The Open.

“Yeah, you know, the Scottish is weird because I felt like everything was actually really good. I had just blamed it on my clubs, which normally it’s not the case, right, but I was thinking, you know, I made my iron switch, I made a little putter switch. So there were certain things there that the game felt good. Last week, the game didn’t feel good. I didn’t know where the golf ball was going and I had to kind of figure that out, so look, yesterday was much needed and I feel a lot better where I am heading into this Thursday.”

Is it simply a case of banking Abu Dhabi?

“Yeah, you just forget about it. It’s as simple as that really. It’s not like I need to sit in a bed or stare at a wall to try to figure out what I do. 

“What happened last week, I wasn’t really in my head. I wasn’t playing to my strengths. Obviously I had no clue where ball was going which makes it a lot harder, but out here like you said, I now the golf course and I know where I need to hit it.

“It’s just about remembering things I’ve done well in the past, and it’s as simple as really forgetting about what happened. I can’t do anything about what happened last week. It happened. I played bad. I learned from it. Last year, I have memories out here that I know I didn’t play well, I know I didn’t putt well and you just try to figure it out and play the best you can.”

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