Collin Morikawa equipment Q&A

Just six events into his professional career, Collin Morikawa, a standout at the University of California, has already notched a PGA TOUR victory. He won by three points at the 2019 Barracuda Championship, which was scored using a Modified Stableford format.

Alongside fellow standout Matthew Wolff, who also has already cemented himself as a PGA TOUR champion, Morikawa signed an equipment deal with TaylorMade upon turning professional. Wolff and Morikawa join a stacked lineup of TaylorMade staffers that includes Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson, Jason Day and Jon Rahm.

Following his victory at the Barracuda, PGATOUR.COM caught up with Morikawa to talk about his equipment deal, as well as his equipment testing philosophies, advice from fellow pros, his first ever TaylorMade driver, working with the company at a young age, and his love for breakfast.

Enjoy our full Q&A with Morikawa below!

Related:Collin Morikawa’s Winner's Bag

PGATOUR.COM: When it comes to golf equipment, throughout your career so far -- whether it’s junior golf, college golf, and now professional – how would you describe yourself; are you a gear head tinkerer who likes to test new equipment, or you find something you like and stick with it?

Collin Morikawa: I put myself in between. As a junior player, I was fortunate enough to have an equipment deal-ish with TaylorMade and they were the first people that came to me. It is kind of cool to have a relationship with guys that I’ve known for so long. Obviously there’s different guys on TOUR out with the trucks, but one of the first guys I met from TaylorMade, Ryan Ressa, is still out here and still working with me. It’s been cool to use TaylorMade clubs pretty much my entire elite junior to amateur to college career, and now my professional career.

I didn’t really start tinkering until about college. I put in a lot of different clubs; I felt comfortable putting in a different shaft or a different setting on a driver, as long as it looked good to me. That’s what’s always been great about TaylorMade clubs, especially their woods. When I look at the club from address, they just fit my eye.

I find myself in the middle between a tinkerer and using the clubs I love. I used to use a set of RSi’s, and I used those for the longest time. When I do find something really good, I love to keep it in the bag. But if something isn’t working or just doesn’t feel right, I’m really open to testing new things.

I know Matthew Wolff started working with Ryan Ressa when he was around 13; do you remember when you started working with Ressa?

I’m pretty sure it was the same age; I was 13 … or maybe I was 14. The coolest thing was that I got introduced by Sebastian Crampton, who ended up being my teammate and roommate for the last 3 years up at Cal. He introduced me to Ryan, and it was cool how that just worked itself out, being able to play with Sebastian for 4 years in college, and he was the one who introduced me to Ryan.

It sounds like Ryan has quite the eye for talent, starting to work with you guys at a young age.

Yeah, and I think Ryan understands our game and he’s seen us play dozens of times. It’s always good to have someone who has seen you grow up, especially as a junior into your professional golf career.

Take me back to the time when you’re turning pro, and you’re deciding whether to sign with an equipment manufacturer or not. You’d been working with TaylorMade for a while, but was it a tough decision at all, deciding to go all-in with one company? Did you give any thought to staying a free agent, like Brooks Koepka has chosen to do?

It was difficult; there’s so many options out there. There’s a lot of great club companies, but I’ve been using TaylorMade clubs and I’ve had a full set of their clubs in my bag many times. Like I said, it wasn’t until college where I started to tinker here and there, but I trust TaylorMade with everything, and I have been for what, 7 years now? Finally being able to sign with them, and have a contract with them, is meaningful. They’ve brought my game to new levels, even as a junior and as a college player, and it’s not going to stop. There’s so many guys out there every single week just trying to help out, and really trying to do their best to find something that… if it doesn’t fit my eye, or my launch with a certain iron isn’t exactly how I like, the TaylorMade guys are out there. I love the guys… I love their products. It’s so cool when they come up with something new, and I was able to test out those new MG2 (Milled Grind 2) wedges at the 3M Open. Things that I wouldn’t expect for them to do. It’s always cool, because I always think they’re ahead of the trend and ahead of the game compared to everyone else. So just to be a part of that brand, I’m very fortunate to continue everything that I’ve done with them into my professional career.

It came down to a certain amount of companies, but in the end I felt the most comfortable with them. I knew their products are what has got me here, and I didn’t want to really go too far off of that.

I’m not exactly sure what setup you used toward the end of your college career, but looking at your bag I would assume you still have some lingering clubs left over from college. Do you think that’s going to be a tough transition – and now you just won – to get new clubs in there?

I don’t think it’s going to be a tough transition. During college, I’d go to tournaments with three different TaylorMade putters or something. I think it’s just tinkering with different things. I was using a full set of their irons, including the 4- and 5-irons – I think the 750’s are fantastic, especially feel-wise in those long irons -- I was using those until about February this year. It’s just certain things you adjust, whether it’s a shaft length, a different shaft or a couple lie adjustments or loft adjustments. But I have been testing a few 4- and 5- irons; I don’t think it’s going to be a big deal. Putter, at the 3M Open I was using a TaylorMade putter. For me, it’s just certain weeks are going to be a different feel, and I think when we get a little more testing in it’s going to be fantastic. I know there’s a bunch of different faces TaylorMade has to offer, and I just haven’t tried all of them yet. I don’t think the transition is going to be too hard; it’s something I’m really excited for because I do love trying out new clubs. That doesn’t mean I’m always going to put them in immediately, but I know all of their products are amazing.

TaylorMade’s staff is obviously pretty stacked with top players. Have you had a chance to speak with any of the guys like Tiger, Rory, Jason Day, Rahm, DJ? Have they given you any advice?

I was able to play 9 holes with Rory, and then I’ve gotten to know Jon Rahm a little bit throughout the years. What I’ve gathered up and learned from all of them is really just “be who you are.” We’ve all gotten to this point, and I think that’s what great about Matt (Wolff) and I; we’ve gotten to this point because of what we’ve done before, not because we’re changing a bunch of things in the past month since we’ve turned pro. We’ve stuck to what we believe in, and we truly believe that all the prep work we’ve done is going to be able to allow us to compete every single week and contend and obviously win. I think those guys have obviously found out what their secrets are, what their routines and plan for each week are, and how that’s going to build to their success. And I think that’s all for us to figure out as we go on.

Your wedge stampings have gone a bit crazy on social media. I guess you’re a big breakfast guy? How did those stampings come about?

Yeah (laughs), so my girlfriend, we love breakfast and we’ve got a little nicknames for each other. I won’t tell you which one [is mine]… but I’ll tell you her [nickname]; hers is “bacon.” But yeah, we love breakfast. We’re huge foodies. We love going out – and I think that’s what’s great about the PGA TOUR is you get to travel to so many great places and find some really good food. It just happened to be that we wanted to put some breakfast [items on the wedges] and we got some good combinations on there. We forgot some cereal names; I think that might be on a new wedge. But yeah, we do love our food and we definitely can’t get enough.

What’s your go-to breakfast spot, and what are some new spots you’ve found on the road so far?

A lot of breakfast is at player dining, so we haven’t been able to go out too far, but one of our spots is in downtown L.A., it’s called “Pantry.” They’re open 24/7. It’s just a kind of old-school diner. They’ve been open forever. It’s just a classic breakfast; you’ve got your eggs, got your bacon, grilled sourdough. I’m huge on grilled bread. You got your potatoes. I love that. You got your pancakes. We don’t like to go too off the charts with breakfast. We love the trendy stuff; she loves doing all that stuff, but we just like some good, whole breakfast food.

Last question here: Do you remember the first TaylorMade driver that you ever used?

That I ever used? Lett’s see, that’s a tough one. I think… this might have even been before I [started working with them]; it might have been a really old Burner. I know the first driver that I got when I was part of the junior staff with TaylorMade was an R11. I remember getting it; it was the most exciting thing out there. I felt like it was pretty cool to get some clubs and use this TaylorMade driver that everyone was using.