Collin Morikawa hits back at 'Sunday Choker' PGA Tour critics ahead of The Players Championship

Collin Morikawa has hit back at critics labelling him something of a 'Sunday choker' on the PGA Tour following his latest near-miss at the Arnold Palmer Invitational on Sunday. 

Morikawa, 28, might be a two-time major champion and six-time PGA Tour winner but his last victory now dates back to the ZOZO Championship in October 2023. 

Despite remaining winless for the past 18 months, Morikawa has still proven one of the most consistent performers on the PGA Tour over the past 12 months.

But try telling that to golf social media, or punters who have been speaking from their pocket at least... 

Morikawa's standout recent performances on the PGA Tour have seen him rise back to fourth in the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR), 

He bumped himself up one rung on the OWGR ladder following his latest runner-up finish behind Russell Henley at famed Bay Hill.

But sadly as a result of regularly hauling himself into contention, and not converting a number of commanding final-round leads into wins in recent seasons, the talented American has seemingly taken up the unwanted golf social media tag of 'Sunday choker' on the PGA Tour. 

Morikawa has endured three agonising runner-up finishes on the PGA Tour since the Memorial Tournament in June 2024, the last of which came on Sunday when he threw away a three-shot lead on the back nine. 

Even Morikawa felt it. 

"This one stings," he said after losing by a shot to Russell Henley on Sunday night. 

Morikawa's biggest critics consider he is building up some serious scar tissue, especially having let slip several big final-round leads at the 2021 Hero World Challenge (a five-shot lead to Viktor Hovland), the 2023 Tournament of Champions (a six-shot lead to Jon Rahm) and the 2025 Arnold Palmer Invitational (a three-shot lead to Henley) on Sunday. 

Popular golf social media account Flushing It believes Morikawa has "a lot of mental damage" at the moment. 

Other golf fans consider Morikawa has now replaced Xander Schauffele as the next big 'Sunday choker' on the PGA Tour. 

Schauffele was once labelled a 'choker' by a large number of golf fans but it's fair to say the American - who also responded to those claims 12 months ago - firmly put that moniker to rest when taking out two major titles at the US PGA and The Open in 2024. 

Morikawa will now be looking to do the same. 

Only he's not particularly bothered by the outside noise. 

When pressed by a reporter ahead of this week's Players Championship at famed TPC Sawgrass to comment on how hard it is to win on the PGA Tour, Morikawa wasted little time in setting the record straight with his harshest critics. 

Morikawa told reporters: 

"I'm coming out here to try and win every week, and granted, I haven't done that and no one ever has, but that's my mindset is, like, I know it's hard, but screw it; like I want the challenge. I want it to be hard. I want everyone to come after me. I want the eyeballs on you. I want the pressure because when you're put in those situations, like, sometimes people perform, and people can say like I haven't performed on those Sundays. So what. I'm putting myself in position to perform, and I know I have before in the past, and like I said, it's just small little things that can make the difference, right, and everyone has ups, everyone has downs, and we'll figure it out."

Morikawa lines up as one of the favourites to win a first Players Championship title this week.

Scottie Scheffler is looking to become the first player to ever win a threepeat at the PGA Tour's flagship event of the season.

Here's all you need to know about The Players Championship.