KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. — Last August, at age 23, Collin Morikawa solved golf. He won the PGA Championship at Harding Park with a nerveless bogey-free 64 in the final round, a performance that was not just an achievement but an announcement: This was a guy to watch for the next 15 years, maybe the guy to watch. You know, like Rory McIlroy once was.
Morikawa is looking to repeat this week, and McIlroy is looking for something else. McIlroy has not won a major since 2014, an astounding stretch. From 2011 to '14, when he was the PGA Tour’s version of a wee lad, McIlroy won four majors.