Slumping Collin Morikawa Leaving St. Andrews Early After Missed Cut at British Open

Over two days ripe for scoring on the Old Course, the two-time major champion and world No. 8 failed to break par and had no answers for his erratic game.

Collin Morikawa missed consecutive cuts at the Scottish Open and British Open; the latter just his second missed major cut of his young career :: Rob Schumacher/USA Today

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland — Defending British Open champion Collin Morikawa leaves the Old Course at St. Andrews with more questions than answers after missing the second cut of his career in a major.

At only 25, Morikawa has two major victories, the 2020 PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park and last year’s Open Championship at Royal St George’s.

In both cases it was his first appearance.

In this case, his defense of the Claret Jug was toothless as the Old Course played benignly for most of the two days and Morikawa could only muster a 1-over-par score on a week when even par was required to play on the weekend.

“If I knew I'd play better,” a perplexed Morikawa said when asked what was wrong with his swing. “I mean, every club is just not doing what I want and it's tough when you don't know where drivers and you don't know where irons are going. I've got to go back to the drawing board and figure it out.”

After a fifth at the Masters, Morikawa was struggling with his game, making cuts but not contending.

When the world No. 8 missed his second cut of the year at the Memorial with a second-round 77, he decided to go back to the drawing board and try to fix what ailed him.

It seemed to work when he was tied for the lead at the halfway point of the U.S. Open at The Country Club outside Boston. Morikawa was poised to win his third major title, but a 77 in the third round derailed his chances of winning and he would eventually finish T5.

Since then, Morikawa missed the cut at the Scottish Open last week and now has a second consecutive missed cut at The Open.

It the first time since October 2020 that Morikawa has missed consecutive cuts.

“It’s a rough patch right now,” Morikawa said after his seventh over-par round in majors this year. “It's just bad swings, bad strikes. I mean, it's not like the wind took my ball anywhere. I'm the one that was putting it left in the bunkers and right in the bunkers. It's tough to explain. I mean, it's, I don't know what I'm going to do.”

More British Open Coverage From SI.com/Morning Read

> Tiger Woods Isn't Retiring Yet, But St. Andrews Revealed That His Competitive Days Are Over
> Matt Fitzpatrick Moves Into Position to Chase Rare Double at British Open
> Tiger Woods Understood That Friday's British Open Ovation Could Mark an End
> Tiger Woods, Collin Morikawa, Phil Mickelson Among Notable Players to Miss Cut
> What to Watch In Round 3 at St. Andrews: Leading Hair, Rors' Roars and More Birdies
> LIV Golf Against the World? Dustin Johnson's Not Feeling It at St. Andrews
> At Stake This Weekend For LIV Golfers: A Claret Jug, and Respectability

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