For a player ranked No. 5 in the world, Collin Morikawa’s results are raising eyebrows. This season, he seems to have lost some of that spark fans are used to seeing, especially in the majors. At the PGA Championship, he barely made the cut and ended up tied for 50th. Things didn’t look much better at the U.S. Open, where he finished tied for 23rd. Compare that to last season, when he finished T4 at the PGA and T14 at the U.S. Open, and the dip in form is clear. It’s been a while since Morikawa has lifted a trophy. His last win was in 2023 at the Zozo Championship. The pressure is starting to build, and Morikawa is taking action to sort out the issues.

Earlier in 2025, in hopes of ending his winless drought, he parted ways with his longtime caddie, J.J. Jakovac, after six years, feeling that a change was needed as “things weren’t feeling right.” His new caddie, Joe Greiner, Max Homa’s former looper, is the new man on his bag. Despite the team change, the bigger issue, a.k.a. technical inconsistencies and uncertainty in his swing and putting, remains. Now, when Morikawa is in Detroit for the 2025 Rocket Classic, he is thinking of an equipment change.

“After losing 10.2 strokes putting in his last two starts, Collin Morikawa is discussing putter changes on the practice green here in Detroit.” posted Ron Klos, golf analyst, on X. Morikawa is hoping to bounce back after two tough outings on the greens, including a particularly rough showing at the U.S. Open, where he lost nearly 9 strokes putting alone. Known for his precise ball-striking, Morikawa’s struggles with putting have become a clear concern, and his testing of new putters suggests he’s actively working to turn things around before tee-off in Detroit. Not his first time switching his putter this season.

At the Travelers Championship, Collin Morikawa decided to mix things up by putting a brand-new Olson Tour Matrix 1.0 Round putter in the bag. His coach, Stephen Sweeney, and TaylorMade rep James Holley ran his stroke through Vertex Golf motion sensors and didn’t find anything technically wrong. The goal wasn’t to fix his mechanics; it was more about dialing in the look, feel, and sound of the putter to something Morikawa felt confident with. This wasn’t the first putter change that Morikawa has made this season at a Signature Event.

You see, he opted for a TaylorMade Spider Tour V putter at Harbour Town for the RBC Heritage, but that mallet-style putter was short-lived, lasting just two events. As Morikawa has said before, “I want the pressure. I want people watching. I want to be chased.”  Yeah, the pressure is building, but the winless streak comes with self-reflection.

“I’ve gone longer [without a win], but honestly, I look back at last year, and it never felt like I had my game to just go out and just play golf,” Morikawa said during an interview at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Over the past year, he admits to having lost the confidence he once had in his game. “I never felt like my game was fully in control,” he added. For Morikawa, the spotlight fuels his confidence, but even with that mindset, his putting troubles go way back. This isn’t the first season he’s been trying to sort things out on the greens.

Collin Morikawa and his putter issues go way back

Collin Morikawa has had issues with his putter long before this season; it’s been a recurring challenge throughout his career. Ahead of the Memorial Tournament in 2021, he was ranked 180th in strokes gained: putting, one of the worst on Tour. Desperate to improve, he began browsing putter options online and reached out to TaylorMade with very specific requests for the head shape, insert type, and alignment features. The company built him a custom version of the TP Juno similar to what he had used before, but with less loft and a forward-bent shaft to suit his hand position.

Earlier that year, Morikawa had switched to a Spider FCG mallet putter, which helped him win the WGC-Workday Charity Championship, but he eventually went back to the blade-style putter he felt most confident with. The change paid off at the 2021 Memorial Tournament. He led the field with 23 birdies, sank two key 8-footers on the back-nine par-5s, and rolled in a 12-foot par save on the 17th. He ended the week ranked 6th in strokes gained: putting, marking a big improvement. So yeah, his relationship with Putter is a complicated one.

As of now, Morikawa ranks 109th in SG: Putting. Let’s see if this year, with so many putter switches, he can climb back up the putting ranks and maybe even break that winless streak.