The phenomenon, wonder kid who bursts onto the scene, relishes the big occasion and instantly reaps the rewards.

However, the struggles slowly creep in. The changes start happening. All while they are under the bright lights of centre stage. The search for the secret ingredient that provided that instant success circling the subconscious.

As quickly as it can come, it can go.

Which can make the ascent back to the top even more rewarding.

It appears to be happening for Collin Morikawa. He looks ripe for the picking at Augusta National this week.

Morikawa started his career with 22 straight cuts made on the PGA Tour. He won his maiden U.S PGA Championship start in 2020 at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco; he then did the same in his maiden start at The Open Championship at Royal St. George’s the following year.

The now 28-year-old seemed destined to continue his winning ways. Everything about his game seemed unflappable.

The swing was as close to flawless as a golf swing can be. You would struggle to find a better ball-striker. He would just hit between a three- and five-yard cut on repeat. The short game is solid as a rock, especially under pressure.

But as quick as it came, it took a holiday. Morikawa has had one win between his 2021 Open Championship triumph – the 2023 Zozo Championship – which looked to be the turning point after over a year of struggles with his game, especially around the greens.

"You just think, okay, 2019 goes great, 2020, okay, keep it going, 2021, and I've learned there's a lot of ups and there's a lot of downs." – Collin Morikawa. 

Struggles are relative, of course. Morikawa still had two top-5s in the majors in 2022 and made it to the FedEx Cup playoffs, finishing 21st. He also had the lowest gross score at the Tour Championship, so without the handicap start, he'd have won. But from the lofty standards he had set in the years prior, it was dissapointing. 

He never took being in that position at the majors for granted, though.

"I didn't take it for granted. I know there's only four a year. It's tough." Morikawa said in his Tuesday presser.

"I think after that, I wasn't playing as good.

"What I took for granted was just like, 'Oh, golf is easy'.

"Not that I told myself that golf is easy," he added.

Why is he ready to pounce at major level again?

At the start of the year, we have seen enough: five starts on the PGA Tour, five top-25 finishes, three top-10s and two runner-ups. Yes, he has had a slight case of the final round wobbles, but the fact he is stringing together quality golf week after week is enough of a fantastic sign; the wobbles won't weigh on a bloke with two major championship titles in his back pocket.

It was alluded to me on the Off the Tips podcast via the lips of co-host Alex Clare that Morikawa is scoring a stroke better per round than he was during those two major championship-winning seasons, and that's also adjusted to the strength of the field, he is also ranked first on tour in strokes gained approach, which is promising at a venue where iron play and distance control is paramount.

"Although he hasn’t had a win in 2025, Morikawa is having his best season statistically with total strokes gained in his 2025 season of +2.92 a round (Data Golf)," Clare explained to Golf Australia..

"This is over a shot better than the years he claimed major victories. For the uninitiated data nerds that need some context, Scheffler was +3.21 in his historical 2024 season.

"It’s no question Colin is playing the best golf of his career, whether he can catch lightning in a bottle this week is the unknown."

Morikawa pinched two majors early in his career, including The Open in 2021. PHOTO: Getty Images.

He has an outstanding record at Augusta, even when he seemingly hasn't had his best stuff.

T18 in 2021, fifth in 2022, T10 in 2023 and T3 last year, where he admitted to "getting greedy" on Sunday, which led to a couple of double-bogeys within three holes.

The American looks as confident as I've seen him going into an event and has the outlook to match; he knows how demanding the sport is; he knows it ebbs and flows. He seems in a spot, not only form-wise but headspace-wise, where he can make a run at a Green Jacket.

"You just think, okay, 2019 goes great, 2020, okay, keep it going, 2021, and I've learned there's a lot of ups and there's a lot of downs," he admits.

"That's just part of life, part of golf, and you kind of try to smooth out those downs as much as you can. I think I've done pretty good. It's time to hit that stride and see how far we can go."