How Collin Morikawa’s strange club request paid off in Scotland

NORTH BERWICK, Scotland — It was late May when Collin Morikawa finally said, Screw it. Why not? 

“We all say we’re going to do certain things and we never actually do it,” Morikawa offered Friday, in a sharing mood after shooting 66 at the Genesis Scottish Open.

What was the it he was considering? Getting serious about learning to swing left-handed. 

During a string of media interviews early Friday afternoon, Morikawa said he actually placed an order with his friends at TaylorMade for a left-handed 8-iron, just so he could fool around and get comfortable with the feeling of moving his limbs, his hips and his core in the opposite direction. Golf is a weird game. You never know when you’re going to need it. 

“Everyone always talks about how much we swing one way,” Morikawa said. “Literally, we all swing right-handed, or whatever way you swing. If I spend five minutes a day when I’m at home swinging left-handed, it can’t hurt. I’m not trying to be the best at it. I’m just trying to make contact. I’ve seen some decent ones. I’m not awful.”

Count that for a new page in the book of pro golfers tinkering. Left to their own devices, players experiment with different grips, new putters, all kinds of training aids. When they see something work for someone else — and even if they see something not work — they can’t help but notice. In this case, Morikawa got serious about those bizarre shots pros run into when they can’t address the ball like normal — maybe it’s up against a tree, a bridge, or a boulder in the desert. 

On Friday, Morikawa found his ball on the lip of a greenside bunker, with absolutely nowhere to stand. He had spent part of his Monday afternoon scheming tricky lies around a practice bunker with his caddie, and now he had found one. The kind of lie you might get once in a Tour season. He turned over the clubface of a wedge and began rehearsing a smooth, lefty swing. 

How much had he practiced in the last month and a half? It’s impossible to know. But he did bring that lefty 8-iron to Tiger Jam, the clinic and poker tournament that Tiger Woods hosts as a benefit to his foundation. 

“Tiger actually hit it,” Morikawa told NBC. “We were both screwing around with it.” 

Back in Scotland, Morikawa tucked his left hand below his right — opposite his normal grip — and interlocked his fingers like always. He took the wedge back a quarter of the way and made a cool nip at the ball, popping it onto the green, rolling just past the hole. The broadcasters were impressed. Fans on-site were confused, sure, but impressed, too. 

“It’s complete motor skills,” Morikawa said afterward. He has clearly given it a good bit of thought. 

“It’s just the complete opposite of what you think of. For me, it comes so natural to hit right-handed, obviously. And when you switch the other way, I have no idea where the clubface is. I don’t know what kind of swing I’m trying to produce. Honestly, I don’t think I bow [my wrist] at all, which is really weird.

“I don’t know if I should, or shouldn’t. But it’s just nice to get the body out of the way. Did it help on the shot? Maybe five percent.”

Five percent is great at the top level of a sport where players pursue the tiniest, incremental gains. Unfortunately for Morikawa, when he turned his body back around to putt right-handed, the 7-footer slid by the hole. It was a bogey, but a creative one nonetheless.