THE PRESIDENTS CUP

September 23, 2026

Collin Morikawa

Medinah Country Club

Press Conference

Q. Just going to ask a couple rapid fire questions.

COLLIN MORIKAWA: Go ahead.

Q. So this or that. Morning or afternoon tee times?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: Morning.

Q. Morning. Match play or stroke play?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: Match play.

Q. Driver or putter?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: Driver.

Q. Practice round or team dinner?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: Team dinner.

Q. Early to the bus or last one on?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: Early to the bus.

Q. Early to the bus. Who is most likely to be last on the bus?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: Xander. Is that should be a common answer.

Q. Who is most likely to bring the energy this week?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: Sam.

Q. Who is the most competitive?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: All of us. Yeah. All. Everyone.

Q. Best dressed on the team?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: JT. Safe.

Q. Who is the biggest trash talker?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: Xander. Yeah.

Q. Collin, you played with eight different partners in your 14-match Cup career. Is that a good thing? Do you enjoy mixing it around? Do you wish you had somebody that was your go-to guy?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: It's funny, I talked to Jim about this quite a bit when he was at -- before The Open. You know, I think just the style of my game, you can kind of put me around and you just end up being that wheel that just gets sent everywhere, right? If someone needs a partner you're kind of that guy. Obviously it'd be nice to settle down with one guy, but the teams are different. Depending where you might go, might affect three other pairings for example.

So, you know, I think after playing a bunch of these you kind of know what you like out of a partner and sometimes you can't ask for everything. But, look, no matter what, you're going to go out and put everything you got and hopefully it kind of melds together.

Q. What do you like in a partner?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: Yeah, that's a great question. Obviously for me, what I've noticed is I like someone that's got a lot of energy. I'm someone that's really low-key, kind of just keeps under the radar. When someone has a lot of the energy, it brings me up but then at the same time, I kind of settle down with them a little bit.

I think sometimes that's a good thing. But at the same time, I've played well with partners that don't do that, and I think for me, like it's just making sure I go out and play my game.

Yeah, eight partners is a lot for how many events I've played.

Q. How would you describe feeling walking onto the first tee?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: Yeah, it's always nerve-wracking, right? I think the buildouts get bigger every year. The entrance just gets that much more exciting and nervous, and you feel it, right.

You almost want to get there a couple minutes early to calm yourself down, and this first tee shot this week is not easy. I mean, you got fence on the left, rough on the right, bunkers right there. It's one that you're going to really have to pay attention to.

But it's always an exciting memory to have, especially once you hit that first tee shot.

Q. Do you prefer partner who plays similar style to you or different style?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: I like the guys that play a little different. Obviously the guys, depending on the format, someone that's long that if I'm a little farther back, I hit a decent shot allows them to be a little bit more aggressive.

You know, I think it's nice when it's -- it is not the exact same style and there is not -- I hit it a little shorter than a lot of the guys. Not many guys that play the way I do, so...

Q. So how much do you communicate with the partner during the round?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: Good amount. Not necessarily on the shots but essentially when we're playing normal stroke play events it's just and you the caddie talking. Now you got two caddies, two players. There is a lot more communication just hanging out that kind of eases the round, creates a little momentum, creates some energy throughout the day.

Q. One last question: If you could pick one player on the other team to face, who would it be?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: Doesn't really matter. Could be anyone. I do play a lot with Min Woo at home, so it's always a fun match. I think we played a few times two years ago in Montreal. So brings us back home. But I'll take anyone.

Q. You've been a part of Team USA for almost a decade. What do you enjoy about these events that's maybe not obvious to the rest of us?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: Yeah, I think the memories we build, right? Sitting down at dinners, hanging out, the stories that are being told, the stuff, rabbit holes we go down. I think that's the best part of it.

It's amazing how quick it goes. I was talking to Jackson today and asking him how he's doing, and, you know, it's already Wednesday, Wednesday night and we're all teeing it up tomorrow. Just everything goes by so quick that you just have to take in, from the day we show up Sunday to just enjoying it, to now we got to flip that switch and be ready for tomorrow.

Q. How much do you kind of remember about your first time and how do you feel like you've kind of grown inside the clubhouse from then until now?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: It's a lot. I remember a lot of it. It went by even faster. I think Ryder Cups go by faster because of three-day format. But it just -- you know, when you're playing well and the team is playing well, it's a lot easier.

When you're behind or trying to catch up, you know, the week feels a little bit more stressful. So you hope to make it a good week, but at the end of the day, we've got a game plan and you just kind of go with it.

But I think the biggest thing that I remember is just being around the guys. You know, everyone is there to help. If you just ask, if you're just there, everyone will lend a helping hand. That's what makes a great team is everyone is there for each other.

Q. And obviously you've won majors, been in contention a lot, at a lot of big tournaments. What would you compare the pressure of that to the pressure of these weeks?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: Yeah, that's nothing like it. I mean, it's -- you want to play well for your team. You want to play well for the country. I mean, I don't think we take this lightly.

You know, when we step on that tee we know who we're representing and what we're out there to do. You just want to go out and play some golf. I think you have to take that all into account, and at the same time kind of push it away and be able to say, let's execute a good shot.

That's why you have trust in the 11 guys on the team.

Q. Collin, how nerve-racking is it at a team event in front of a lot of fans to have out of bounds on 1, 2, and 3 all along the left side of the hole?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: Yeah, I was talking about it. I was thinking back to my first event which was Whistling Straits. You know, I just teed it high and let it fly, and I don't think we could have lost the ball.

This is a little different. Thankfully I played a few. But, yeah, wind is going to be off the left. It's a little more helpful.

But I've never seen a course like this where there is a fence line that's right along the edge of the rough. That's going to play into a factor of how you're hitting the shots, what format you're going to be playing.

It all plays into it. It's a tricky first -- you know, I would say 3 is a lot more gettable than the first two, but the first two holes, I mean, it comes up right against it, and I've never seen anything like it like I said.

Q. How tight is it on the second shot on 2?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: Yeah, it creeps in. JT hit a shot today that was, you know, an average shot. I think that just bounced in the rough, and now he didn't have a swing to get around the fence.

You're going to see a lot of balls to the right. You know, if the wind were off the right, I think it would play even more different because we would all be swinging it, and if the wind took it...

But, yeah, like I said, it's a shot that you never really come across but you almost have to treat it as if it is OB but also as if there is water. It's a two-shot penalty right there. You're out of the hole.

Q. Yesterday Brandt said that he would like Scottie to just be Scottie this week. Who is Scottie to you?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: Competitor. I mean, he's a good friend. I think knowing him for over half my life, essentially 15, 20 years now, he just loves to compete. At the end of the day, he is a very, very good golfer and he's an amazing person.

That's what he brings to our team room and what he brings out here. You know, forget about the record that he's had in the past. That guy is an incredible golfer, and sometimes I think that brings out maybe the best in the competitors that he's playing.

You know, that's just what it is. But we have full trust in that guy and that's why he's the No. 1 player in the world right now.

Q. How would you describe the team atmosphere in one word?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: Jokes. Nonstop just jokes back and forth, yeah.

Q. Who is your favorite swing on the team?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: Trying to think. Can I pick Adam Scott? Wrong team.

Not Scottie's. I think JT's has always been one of my favorite. Just growing up watching his swing, a lot of power but a lot of control and just a lot of finesse I think with that as well.

Q. Is the easiest job in golf being Adam Scott's swing coach?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: It's probably the hardest. I think it's the hardest because you don't say much and then when it's off, you don't know what to say because it looks good, yeah.

Q. You mentioned stories being told in the team room. How many stories have you heard so many times now that you can say it as well as the --

COLLIN MORIKAWA: Yeah, I mean, there has definitely been a few repeated. We got a few rookies on the team, and those get brought up on the bus, at dinner.

But it's always fun to hear. You know, they never get old. You always want to be a part of them. It's just weird being able to kind of know some of these stories where you say oh, yeah I remember this one. I heard this one.

Yeah, it's all part of it.

Q. Which story is the one where it starts and you kind of like lean in, like, I got to hear this one?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: All of them. They're all interesting for many different reasons, you know. Some might be inappropriate. Some might be funny. Might be ready to run through a wall.

You kind of get it all.

Q. What are the pros and cons of the U.S. playing a team golf event every year compared to every other year?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: Yeah, no, I mean, I would say the pros is that we get it every year. So you can continue playing this format, continue practicing, you get it in competition, real reps.

The cons are the build up just isn't as big. It's nothing to take away from the Presidents Cup, nothing to take away from a Ryder Cup, but you look at, let's say, Europe, for example, with the Ryder Cup, the buildout, buildup is that much more intense. It's not that it isn't for us, but at the same time we're here to focus on this week and this week only. We care about winning a point tomorrow, our point, going next match, hopefully the team gets it done and that's all we have to worry about.

Q. Would the vets on the team ever hold it against another vet if they just needed a year off, even if they were among the top...

COLLIN MORIKAWA: I don't know if we ever talked about that. Look, I mean, I think if you're a top player, I think I would hold it -- I would hold it to them to go and play. We have a busy schedule, but there is times we can play off, and this is important.

You know, I wouldn't take this any lighter than I would next year at the Ryder Cup. I played them both. You can look at it both ways how you want.

But the day we step foot on here we all care. We put it -- every inch, our practice from the days, from the rest, I mean, nothing is taken lightly to where we're screwing off. It is full prep to go out there and win.

Q. I'm always curious how the team pairings are put together. Obviously the team captains and analysts know everything about your game. But do they come to you and say, hey, you're a world-class iron player; do you want to play the odds this week? There are three par-3s to tee off on in foursomes. Just in general, curious if there are conversations?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: Yeah, there is a lot of conversations. At the end of the day, you want to be comfortable. Doesn't matter what the stats numbers say. Like you have to be comfortable with your pairings. There is a lot of trickle-down effect. If you move one guy here, it affects a lot of other pairings, right?

Q. Sure.

COLLIN MORIKAWA: That's something you have to think about. Especially with five matches out of the 12 guys versus a four-match Ryder Cup. It matters that much more.

But this week is very unique where you get a lot of the iron shots on the odds and you get a lot of the drives and putters on the evens. You don't get that as much on some courses. This week it's very, very split out in that direction, and maybe you kind of hedge one way or the other depending on who you're playing with.

Q. This might be an easy question for you, but which one do you prefer?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: Yeah, I mean...

Q. The iron?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: I'm probably more of an odds guy. I would put a bet on that.

Q. Fair enough. Last question. I got to ask. How did the Sahith commercial come together?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: Oh, I didn't even know that was a thing. Yeah, I think that --

Q. It's going to be a thing.

COLLIN MORIKAWA: Yeah, I think that's AI to its fullest potential.

Q. Yeah. I got that part.

COLLIN MORIKAWA: Yeah. I scrolled this morning. I need to watch it again, wow.

Q. You should, yeah.

COLLIN MORIKAWA: I don't know if I want to watch it.

Q. What have the past couple weeks been like getting ready for this?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: Yeah, I was extremely sick.

Q. Really? Oh, jeez.

COLLIN MORIKAWA: I was out.

Q. Feeling better?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: So I'm great. You know, practice session we came about a week and a half ago, I told everyone to stay away because what I had was not fun. I had this stomach bug, out for a week, nasty.

But it's just, you know, Xander was in town, couple of the guys still been playing a bunch, so just a lot of matches. Like offseason matches, a lot of money being traded here and there.

But just fun. Like practice, grinding, but at the same time just a lot of match play kind of practice.

Q. Could you rank the karaoke performances?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: Yeah. Yeah. A for effort. Like I don't even want to give a number. I don't even think they deserve numbers. Jackson I'll give a three out of ten.

Not a good -- struggled. Got through it.

Jacob just picked a song that everyone -- I'll give him a seven and a half. Chris's was probably like a four.

Q. Okay.

COLLIN MORIKAWA: Rough.

Q. Did you have to do that as a rookie?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: Plead the fifth.

Q. Oh, so you did do that as a rookie?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: I'll plead the fifth, or not. Or not.

Q. All right. Do you know who you're playing with this week?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: I do.

Q. Is it someone you've played with before?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: I do. No.

Q. That's fun.

COLLIN MORIKAWA: No.

Q. Well, I'm sure I'll find out.

COLLIN MORIKAWA: Yeah, he's close to me in proximity. He's in this room.

Q. Curious as well, I saw you practicing some bump-and-runs with a 3-wood on hole 3 I believe. How would you say the rain has impacted course conditions around the green, and how do you see that evolving throughout the week?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: Yeah, it's huge. It gets a little grainy out here and it's just really soft. Some of the areas where the grass or dirt underneath hasn't really fully grown in, it plays like super wet sod. There is no bounce. No matter how much bounce you have, it's just going to slide underneath.

It's not pretty but it's a play that I've always been comfortable with. I use 5-wood. I just kind of get it through and I just -- it's something that I do at most events that I'm able to kind of run it up fringe.

I know my strengths and weaknesses. At the end of the day, that chip shot I still feel like I can make, but I feel like I'm also going to make up-and-down a lot more with a 5-wood. Just because it's a team event, even if you have a guy close doesn't mean I'm going to go out and just kind of jam a wedge into the hill.

I'm just going to do what I do.

Q. So it was a 5-wood?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: 5-wood, yeah.

Q. Curious as well, what do you remember from your international debut and what are you drawing on from that to prepare for this week?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: My international debut?

Q. Yeah, your Presidents Cup debut.

COLLIN MORIKAWA: You mean like team. I'm on Team USA.

Q. Yeah.

COLLIN MORIKAWA: Okay. You know, I kind of remember it all. I remember how quick the week goes and you just realize like no matter what you do, like you just want to go out and play well, but at the same time, you just have to take in moments, take in moments in the team room, take in moments in the team bus.

Keegan told us -- you just never know when it's going to be your last one, and you just want to remember. You can't take these for granted. At the same time, we have a job to do, and I think everything kind of -- we've been really focused when we're out there practicing, but essentially when we get on the team bus headed back, fun and games are kind of set aside and we're out there to take blood hopefully.

Q. I know you're a sports fan. I'm wondering if you had any thoughts on what the margin of victory is going to be this year?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: I don't care. We just want to win. Yeah. I don't care how it gets done. I don't care if it's close. We obviously have a game plan and we want to win as many points.

But little different thinking of like a score like in a football game versus we got to play for four days and a lot can change.

Look at our last Presidents Cup. We went 5-0, or 4-0, whatever it was the first day, and then we were tied 5-5. We had to have a talk with ourselves. So every day is a new day, and every match is a new match.

You can only control essentially what's in front of you in your own match right there.

Q. TV ratings aren't your concern, but curious, in order for this tournament to really resonate in the middle of the football season, college football, NFL, it needs to be close but may not be. I mean, thoughts on just the event itself?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: Yeah, that's a different perspective that all of us aren't really thinking about. We care about winning the Cup and figuring out what's the best way we're going to do that.

You know, with TV it's hard. Football is king. It just is what it is. It's the timing of it. That doesn't mean you're not going to have great fans out there and not going to have great energy. Even today on a Wednesday, you know, a lot of fans out there, junior Presidents Cup team coming out, watching us, having fun.

That's what we want to see. I think that's all we can ask for. The ratings are the ratings. Some people are going to hopefully enjoy it but we can't control that. No one can.

Q. When you look at the major wins and your trophy case, where would one of those truly rank for you?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: Yeah, team events are truly completely in its own rank. But you want to win. That's what I know. I've been on part of these losing teams before and they suck.

You know, it's not going to define a career per se, but at the same time, I mean, you're letting down not just your team but the country and the people that all put it up together. There is a lot of people behind the scenes that not a lot of people get credit for.

We want to go out and do what we do best.

Q. This is Adam Scott's 12th Presidents Cup. Do you have even just a tinge of sympathy for him that he's never won, never been on a winning team? I realize that's tough. Not like you're going to let him win, but where I'm coming from.

COLLIN MORIKAWA: Yeah, yeah. Sympathy, maybe not. (Laughter.)

Look, I mean, he's synonymous with international golf and synonymous with the Presidents Cup and just golf in general. He's one the most beloved golfers that we could ask for to be a captain of what we do and what we push for the world.

But at the same time, I know he puts a lot of energy into this and they're just trying to find their recipe to go out and win and we're trying to do the same. It is what it is. Hopefully -- we got a job to do this week. That's all we can focus on.

Q. You referenced it a minute ago, but last year on the losing end, how does the recovery from that or getting over that compare to when you maybe have -- maybe feel like you should have won an individual tournament?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: Yeah.

Q. Does it compare at all?

COLLIN MORIKAWA: It does a little bit. I mean, no matter what happens this week, we're going to hear the Ryder Cup stuff for the next year. 12 of us that were on the team, like we hear it. We see the flags. We hear it.

For them, Europe builds it up, but all we can do is focus on this week. No matter what guys think, our focus tomorrow is to go out and win five points.

It's just I think we're so good at being able to compartmentalize, focus on the right things at the right time, and if we start focusing on other things it just -- these how you get behind.

So it's -- yeah, it is what it is, bit at the same time, I think an individual loss, it's you, caddie, your team, you get over it, whatever. Then you have another tournament. This one you have to live with for a year, two years.

It hurts.