Collin Morikawa’s Open chances just improved with 1 gear change

Three years ago, Collin Morikawa did the unthinkable and scrapped his entire iron setup on the eve of the 2021 Open Championship. TaylorMade P730s were bumped from the bag by a combination of P770 (4-iron) and P7MC (5-9) — Morikawa retained the P730 pitching wedge — that offered a fractionally better ball strike with enhanced turf interaction.

The word “fractionally” needs to be emphasized because Collin didn’t make the change for monumental improvements. It all came down to a slightly sharper leading edge that allowed the head to move through the turf more effectively, thereby helping him find the center of the face more often.

The sole change resulted in the 27-year-old adding 300 RPMs on a draw shot to hit his carry number. It was no longer necessary to account for an extra 3 to 4 yards due to a lower spin rate.

Again, we’re talking about fractional changes — the kind of metrics elite golfers crave in the search for an on-course edge. In Morikawa’s case, changing the iron sole geometry played a big part in his dream week at Royal St George’s Golf Club.

Not every gear change ends with a Claret Jug, but Morikawa is hoping to replicate the feat after making a similar alteration to his iron setup this week at the Genesis Scottish Open.

According to TaylorMade Tour rep Adrian Rietveld, Morikawa was all set to employ his usual MCs for the upcoming stretch of links golf until a conversation on Wednesday led him to wonder if the Tour-only P7CB could be a better option.

“[B]y Wednesday we just felt that [the P7CB] needed a test in good time before the Open Championship to either rule them out or show their potential,” Rietveld told GOLF.com.

Already familiar with the cavity-back iron after inserting a P7CB 4-iron at the Wells Fargo Championship, Morikawa decided to take a full set for a test run and found them to be noticeably better where he needed it most — on mishits.

“I think it was the consistency of the spin on those very slight mishits,” Rietveld said. “Bottom line is I feel we are taking away nothing and giving a tiny bit of something in forgiveness.”

Yes, even someone who once went through a TrackMan combine session in college that revealed his dispersion pattern with a 6-iron was as good as most elite players with a pitching wedge needs some semblance of mishit protection. In Morikawa’s case, it all came down to a similar recipe that revealed itself when he moved previously from P730 to P7MC: tighter spin rates.

With the previous MCs, it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility to see spin jump 400-800 RPMs on a mishit. Since he switched to P7CB, the spin rates on a miss have never jumped more than 400 RPMs.

It’s the kind of meaningful improvement that has Morikawa positioned to make a run at more hardware in Scotland. (He was three shots back of the lead after 36 holes at the Scottish Open.)

Rietveld confirmed he still has all of Morikawa’s gamer clubs (P7MC and P730), but the way he’s swinging it at the moment, they’ll likely remain tucked away for at least the next few weeks.

Maybe longer if Morikawa can claim another Claret Jug.

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Jonathan Wall

Golf.com Editor

Jonathan Wall is GOLF Magazine and GOLF.com’s Managing Editor for Equipment. Prior to joining the staff at the end of 2018, he spent 6 years covering equipment for the PGA Tour. He can be reached at jonathan.wall@golf.com.