The golf season kicks off in the United States, and many players are bringing new developments and innovations. For example, Collin Morikawa (-15), second on the leaderboard after the first 36 holes, acknowledges that he has done a lot of experimenting this preseason.
The most important change is undoubtedly a small adjustment he has incorporated into his pre-shot routine with the irons. It’s a detail, perhaps only noticeable to the most attentive. Before starting his swing, Morikawa now opens his front hip and pushes his right knee to mimic his impact position.
The reason the Californian has added this change is to try to avoid some discomfort: “I started doing it a few weeks ago. I’ve gone through a couple of back injuries, and we do so much repetition with our bodies that sometimes you build bad patterns and your body gets used to certain positions. So I’ve wanted to remind myself that I can turn and stay in that position, and that’s really all it’s doing.”
On the other hand, the figure of Keegan Bradley also stands out, undoubtedly one of the key names of this 2025. The captain of the American team for this year’s Ryder Cup continues to shine on the golf course and reiterates that his candidacy to be a playing captain is something that remains very present in his mind, but for now, he prefers to put this topic aside until July: “It’s certainly a maybe, but we’ve only had two rounds of 2025. So if we get to July and I’m still playing well, then we’ll start talking, but for now, I’m just going to keep playing my best and there will be time to make decisions.”
The American has also appeared in Kapalua with changes, in this case external, a moustache. He acknowledges that it started as a bet, but the results are accompanying him, and for now, he will keep the moustache for at least a while.
The captain acknowledges that he thinks of nothing else and, in fact, on Thursday night to Friday, he dreamed about the Ryder. One might think these are dreams full of magic and excitement, but at times they verge on nightmares: “I have them all the time. I dream about… well, one, that I can’t get to the course, and I’m like stressed. I dream a lot about being at Bethpage, it’s constantly on my mind.” He acknowledges that it’s hard to think about anything other than the Ryder. Bordering on obsession.
Regarding the art of balancing his role as captain and PGA Tour player, he acknowledges that it’s not an easy task, but he feels comfortable and delighted with the possibility of leading the potential revenge at Marco Simone: “I have two jobs. One is being here, and the other is being the captain and leader of the US Ryder Cup team. I really enjoy being the captain. It’s not difficult for me. I love talking to the players, I love talking to my vice-captains,… and I love playing golf. So these are not difficult things to balance. It’s stressful, but I enjoy both tasks.”
A funny anecdote is that the captains of the two teams are good friends and live a few streets apart, crossing paths quite frequently: “We live two or three minutes apart. I see him at The Grove all the time. I can say he’s my friend, and there’s no awkwardness or anything; we both know we’re going to do our best to beat each other. The other day we were talking about going out to play together one of these days.” Rivals and friends. That’s sport.
