‘You Just Can’t Copy Anyone Else’: Collin Morikawa’s Revelation on Beating Scottie Scheffler

It may seem like Scottie Scheffler wins every tournament he plays. Especially after the world number 1 won his first start of the season. But while he finished T4 at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am last week, Scheffler did not win. Collin Morikawa did.

Morikawa’s win was the culmination of a long drive to refine his game, and the payoff “took a lot of work” and “trial and error,” as he explained during his press conference ahead of this week’s 2026 Genesis Invitational.

But the two-time champion also shared a big epiphany he had about golf that helped him become world No. 1 and win his first golf. PGA Tour event since 2023.

How Morikawa refined his game to end the winless drought

From 2019-2023, Morikawa collected six victories, including two major titles (at the 2020 PGA Championship and the 2021 Open Championship). But after winning the 2023 Zozo Championship, Morikawa’s elite play seemed to disappear.

He went winless in 2024 and failed to win a PGA Tour title again in 2025. He still finished second in the 2024 FedEx Cup standings, but fell to 19th last season.

His struggles forced him to question what was going wrong with his game, leading to months of hard work to try to get back to where he was earlier in his career.

“You can look and say, well, what’s wrong; why are you going down these paths, to try to figure it out and get it – because I know deep down that I’m not going to be able to play that freedom of golf unless I figure something out,” Morikawa explained.

But sometimes overthinking can become a detriment to improving one’s game, as Morikawa said happened to him earlier in his career.

“I think a lot of times you can get in your own way by adding too much and trying to do too much. When I look back at the beginning of my career, yes, you may have tried to get better in one area, but then you forget to keep getting better in another area, and you lose a little bit,” Morikawa said. “The senses and the style of golf, you lose that a little bit, of who you are.”

However, Morikawa was quick to explain that he didn’t “get in his own way” during his recent winless drought. Instead, he had to examine and work on every part of his game to reach a point where he could play “free golf” on the course, which eventually happened at Pebble Beach.

“I had to keep trying things because if I didn’t, I wouldn’t be able to go play golf for free for four days,” Morikawa said. “I played it for two days last week [at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am]and it clearly won me the tournament. But I want to be able to go out week after week and play golf for four days.”

Morikawa’s revelation: ‘The biggest thing I learned about beating the best

Although Morikawa admitted that he still has a lot of work to do to be fully satisfied with his game, his win at Pebble Beach proved that his intensive improvement process is working.

And one big epiphany he had about competing against the best golfers in the world had a lot to do with his recent success.

That revelation? If you want to beat the best players like Scheffler, you can’t copy what they do. Instead, you need to learn what works best for you and pursue greatness within that framework.

“The most important thing I learned is that you just can’t copy anyone else. You can maybe take a little bit, but only because Scottie [Scheffler] doing something great doesn’t mean I have to go and do it,” Morikawa revealed.

He continued, “I think I just have to keep reminding myself that what I’m doing is my thing, and that’s – hopefully I’m doing the best I can to do it. It doesn’t mean I can’t get good things out of what he’s doing, but I think too many people try to copy that exact formula that says, hey, this is how you’re going to play good golf.”

Ironically, Scheffler may be the best proof of Morikawa’s point. He has ridden a swing all his own to a level of dominance comparable only to Tiger Woods’ greatest heights.

Collin Morikawa explains why he doesn’t use a measuring book at home

Earlier in his pre-tournament press conference at Riviera, Morikawa was asked the following: If he stopped overthinking his game and gave up the continuous improvement process he had detailed, would he still be good at golf?

In response, Morikawa admitted that much of his practice comes from “playing with the boys at home.” But he also explained the huge difference between rounds with friends and tournament golf.

“I think what you’re describing is kind of like playing when you’re at home sometimes and playing with the guys. A big part of my practice is playing against the guys at home. It doesn’t matter how much money you’re playing for, it doesn’t matter what’s at stake. It’s always different than playing in a tournament. It is,” Morikawa explained.

To emphasize his point, he revealed another interesting fact about his practice: when he plays single rounds, he never uses a distance book.

“Talking between your caddy, looking at distances – I don’t look at a distance book at home. I don’t know of anyone looking at a distance book when they’re at home. If they do, support them,” Morikawa joked. “But it’s a very different rhythm. I think in a tournament you just have to be able to hone your skills and find what works for you.”

Based on last week’s win at Pebble Beach, Morikawa finally feels dialed in.