Scott Harrington sees ‘a lot of parallels’ between playing piano and golf

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If you’ve ever wondered what Collin Morikawa’s game would look like with a little extra length off the tee, you may find out this week. Morikawa has put TaylorMade’s new Stealth Plus in the bag for this week’s Sentry Tournament of Champions, and the club has given him approximately 3 mph in extra ball speed. It’s the first time in nearly two years that Morikawa has switched drivers. The Stealth Plus and its carbon face are replacing the SIM driver he used to win both of his major titles. Morikawa’s iron play always earns attention. He led the PGA TOUR in Strokes Gained: Approach last season, but if you can say there’s a shortcoming in the game of the world’s second-ranked player, it’s a lack of length compared to his peers. Morikawa ranked 112th in driving distance (295.2 yards) last season. “I’ve actual seen some increases in ball speed. … This is the first time where I’ve actually seen that jump, which has been great,” Morikawa said Wednesday from Kapalua. “Any time you can get a little more ball speed, get a little more distance, it’s going to be helpful. “I haven’t gotten that much stronger, I haven’t gotten that much bigger — but to get that just little extra out of it, it’s going to be beneficial sometimes on certain holes.” TaylorMade’s Stealth line gained attention when Tiger Woods put it in the bag for last month’s PNC Championship. This is the first week the club is being used on the PGA TOUR. The new line uses 60 layers of carbon in its red-and-black face instead of the traditional titanium. Woods also used a Stealth Plus, which is the line’s lowest-spinning model and has a sliding weight track on the sole to allow players to control shot shape. “The feel is there, which is great. … The first two things that we look at is feel and sight,” Morikawa said. “The red face took me five hits. (I) don’t even think about it anymore, I think it looks so clean. The carbon, it creates a feel that normally you would feel off a titanium face.” Ryan Ressa, TaylorMade’s Senior Manager of Player Development, said Morikawa’s ball speed with his previous driver was approximately 170-172 mph. Now it’s around 174.5-176 mph. Morikawa’s spin rate with both clubs ranges between 2,200-2,400 rpm and his launch angle is still around 10 degrees. “It’s almost the same as his driver he’s loved for the last two years, but a bit faster,” Ressa said. “The big thing is he’s seeing his stock left-to-right shot on command. His control with it is really good.” Said Morikawa, “Knowing that I can trust a driver that’s not … going to go left, I can hit my left-to-right cut shot and just be able to hit that everywhere we go, it’s really crucial for me. … So far what I’ve seen in this short, short time it’s already beaten what I’ve had in the past.”

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Bill Haas … The former FedExCup champ continues to grind out paydays but he’s had only one finish better than a T50 in his last dozen starts in individual competition. Still, at 140th in the FedExCup standings, he’s within striking position to return to the Playoffs. There’s no better place than Colonial to make a dent in the ranks as he’s perfect in his last seven appearances with five top 15s, including in each of the last two editions. Talor Gooch … After two months off to allow an injured thumb to heal, he shook off the rust and finished T12 at the Web.com Tour’s Knoxville Open last week, leading the field in fairways hit and ranking T7 in greens in regulation and eighth in scrambling. Suffice it to say that that rust was merely valuable rest. Currently 81st in the FedExCup standings in only nine starts on conditional status thanks to consecutive top fives in January. Despite the limited action, he’s still officially seventh on the PGA TOUR in greens in regulation, T9 in proximity to the hole, second in strokes gained: approach-the-green and 30th in putting: birdies-or-better. RELATED: Power Rankings | Tee times | Field Shawn Stefani … Although it’s been two weeks, this is his second straight appearance in Sleepers. His last previewed a T20 at the AT&T Byron Nelson across town, which itself followed a T13 at the Wells Fargo Championship. The Texan seemingly always is part of a conversation in his home state. That includes at Colonial where he’s 4-for-4 with a T19 in 2015. Currently 66th on TOUR in GIR, T22 in par-3 scoring and T35 in par-4 scoring. Carlos Ortiz … He’s heating up near his old stomping grounds at the University of North Texas. After nearly three months without making noise, he hung up a T12 at Trinity Forest where he led the field in greens hit. After a week off, the 28-year-old then breezed into the U.S. Open at sectional qualifying on Monday, also in Dallas. He now returns to Colonial where he hasn’t shown since a T58 in his debut in 2015. Sits 24th on TOUR in total driving and 33rd in GIR. Doug Ghim … It’s been a busy 11 months since the former University of Texas Longhorn turned professional while atop the World Amateur Golf Ranking. Now 23 years of age, he’s gone 3-for-5 with two top 25s in each of the last two PGA TOUR seasons. His most recent leaderboard appearance occurred just two weeks ago at Trinity Forest where he placed a career-best T12 while ranking inside the top 15 in fairways hit, greens in regulation, proximity to the hole and strokes gained: tee-to-green. That balanced attack has defined his early profile on the Web.com Tour where he’s 46th on the money list, and it should serve him well in his first look at Colonial in competition. NOTE: Sleeper is a relative term, so Rob uses unofficial criteria to determine who qualifies. Each of the following usually is determined to be ineligible for this weekly staple: Winners of the tournament on the current host course; winners in the same season; recent major champions; top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking; recent participants of team competitions.

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