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Collin Morikawa’s choice to change to a special putter earlier than the second spherical of The Masters raised some eyebrows however paid off with the American heading into Sunday’s closing spherical only a stroke off the lead.
Morikawa shot a three-under 69 on a Saturday wherein placing on the notoriously troublesome greens at Augusta received tougher and sooner to take a seat only a shot behind chief Scottie Scheffler.
After Thursday’s opening spherical, when he shot 71, Morikawa switched from his just lately adopted mallet head putter again to a extra acquainted blade putter.
Whereas it’s not uncommon for high professionals to change putters, it’s uncommon for them to take action in the course of a Main championship.
“I got here into this week not placing properly or feeling comfy with the putter that I had in my arms. Went full 180, switched to the mallet and was feeling nice, to be trustworthy,” he stated.
“I felt higher than I’ve form of felt all yr. However typically you don’t know the way it’s going to really feel within the match. By means of that [first] spherical … I simply wished to get the putter out of my arms as a result of I couldn’t get comfy with it.
“Fortunately I had a backup, one thing – a duplicate of what I’ve putted with up to now, just about the previous yr and a half. Felt like outdated instances and good to have that within the again once more.
“I didn’t make the putts I essentially wished as we speak. Missed a couple of on the market, however all the pieces nonetheless feels comfy. That’s the most important factor is feeling comfy going into tomorrow.”
REPORT: Scheffler grabs Masters lead
Morikawa appeared comfy on a day that was removed from so for many of his rivals atop the leaderboard – beginning off with three straight birdies earlier than his solitary bogey on the sixth and a bounce-back birdie on the eighth.
Whereas others struggled by means of the again 9, throughout an enthralling closing two hours of play, the two-time Main winner stored his cool, accumulating 9 straight pars.
The 27-year-old gained the PGA Championship in 2020 and The Open the next yr however his solely win since was in Japan on the Zozo Championship.
Now he feels he’s approaching the shape that noticed him seize these Majors.
“It has been a wrestle the previous few years. It hasn’t been enjoyable, but it surely has been enjoyable to be taught in regards to the recreation and find out about myself,” he stated.
“The previous few days, I’ve seen some pictures that I haven’t seen in fairly a while, and that’s actually thrilling for me as a result of it’s simply having the ability to point-and-shoot and discover the ball, and hopefully you’ve received a birdie likelihood.”
Three straight birdies to open Collin Morikawa’s third spherical. He’s one stroke off the lead. #themasters pic.twitter.com/nzA9kSJD11
— The Masters (@TheMasters) April 13, 2024
In addition to the putter change, Morikawa has additionally adjusted his swing just lately and admits he was making an attempt quite a lot of methods to recapture his finest golf.
“Generally you’re looking, and I needed to search,” he stated. “You need to discover one thing. The place my recreation was final week, if I took it out right here, first few days, I most likely wouldn’t be right here. I most likely wouldn’t be enjoying as we speak. So it’s important to discover one thing.
“Generally you’re simply looking for a really feel. That’s all it’s. When you discover a really feel, you possibly can repeat and simply put it on repeat all all through the week.
“That’s what I’ve caught to, this one really feel in my golf swing, and hopefully we will simply put that underneath strain tomorrow and simply proceed that form of shot-shaping I like.”
Standing between Morikawa and a 3rd main is Scottie Scheffler and a tightly compressed leaderboard behind him.
“There may be nonetheless fairly a handful of men beneath us, and I feel the situations are going to be fairly mellow for essentially the most half in comparison with what we’ve seen all week,” he stated.
“It’s going to rely how the primary 5 to 9 holes go. Look, Scottie is the No 1 participant on this planet for a cause and what he’s carried out over the previous few years is unimaginable.
“On the finish of the day, it doesn’t scare me. Fortunately I’ve received 18 extra holes to determine it out and hopefully play some actually nice golf.”
© Agence France-Presse
Photograph: Jamie Squire/Getty Photos
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