Morikawa charting new path to success

Bobby Jones and Jack Nicklaus. Tiger Woods and Jordan Spieth.

Add another name with whom Collin Morikawa is now linked by his remarkable run through the majors in a span of 343 days. This one is a little out of left field, but it speaks to how much Morikawa has achieved in his short time on the PGA Tour.

He will be the first player since Andy North in 1985 to make his debut in the Ryder Cup having already won two majors.

It was different back then, of course. Tour players had to serve an apprenticeship before they could even become PGA of America members and be eligible. North won the U.S. Open twice before playing in his first Ryder Cup.

“I think it was three years before you could start getting Ryder Cup points,” North said Tuesday. “And then you had to go through a three-day school. We had to take a rules test. That’s why a lot of players didn’t play in as many Ryder Cups as you would think.”

Nicklaus, for example, had already won seven majors when he played his first Ryder Cup.

“He is special,” North said, turning his thoughts back to Morikawa. “I was around him quite a bit at the PGA Championship because no one was there. He was the most mature, ready player that I’ve seen in long, long time.”

And there’s still a long road ahead for the 24-year-old Californian.

There were a lot of obscure records that came along with that silver claret jug he won at Royal St. George’s. Not since Jones has a player won two professional majors in eight starts or fewer. Nicklaus, Woods, Spieth and Rory McIlroy are all on the list of having two majors before turning 25. Nicklaus won two of those when trailing after 54 holes, just like Morikawa.

The numbers are equally impressive: A closing 64 to win the PGA Championship at Harding Park last August, a 66 on the final day to win the British Open on Sunday. He played his last 23 holes of the PGA and his last 31 holes at the Open without a bogey.

And he took his own place in the record book as the first man to win two majors in his first time playing them.

His calm, his polish, his poise would suggest Morikawa is never in a hurry. His record indicates otherwise. And his wisdom was evident Saturday night when he was asked about playing in the final group at a major for the first time.

“I’ve never been in the position all the other previous times,” he replied.

Everything is new. And then he makes everything seem old hat.