Morikawa learns from Masters mistakes | Smith 'hungry' for more success

Collin Morikawa believes he has learnt a valuable lesson on how to tackle Augusta National ahead of his bid to win the third leg of a career Grand Slam at The Masters.

Morikawa finished 44th on his debut in November 2020 and could only claim a share of 18th in last year's contest, with the American both years following the notion that golfers must play a draw to find success around the Georgia layout.

The two-time major champion has abandoned those plans to stick to his usual shot shape for this year's contest, with Morikawa hoping to follow three worldwide top-10s in seven starts with his first victory of 2022.

"I think the biggest thing is, I need to play my game," Morikawa said. "You hear how much you need to hit draws (at Augusta) and you have to hit it high and you have to do certain things, but that's what I did wrong the past two years.

"Pretty much my week of prep two years ago and last year was how do I hit a draw, how do I hit a high draw, how do I do this. This year was a little different. This year I just made sure everything was finely tuned and I go out there and figure out how to play the course to my strengths."

Morikawa admitted to having limited knowledge of golfing history, with the world No 3 more focused on creating his own legacy in the game than looking back at highlights from past events.

"I'll say it again, history of golf kind of goes in one ear, comes out the other, goes in the eyes, exits somewhere," Morikawa added. "Things just don't stick in my head. It's not like I don't respect it and don't take it the wrong way, like I respect the sport fully. I just want to win. I want to be out here. I want to make history.

"Go back to The Open and people are asking me, 'What's your earliest memory?' I