Collin Morikawa was born on February 6, 1997, and grew up in La Cañada Flintridge, California. He has ties to both Japan through his father’s family and China through his mother’s, and he has a younger brother named Garrett. Morikawa now lives in Las Vegas with his wife Katherine Zhu and their dog Koa.
Here’s what you need to know about Collin Morikawa’s family:
1. Collin Morikawa Was Born & Raised in California & His Parents Provided a Stable & Happy Home for Him & His Brother
Morikawa had a great childhood growing up with his parents and a younger brother in the La Cañada Flintridge city of Los Angeles County, California. His parents are Debbie and Blaine Morikawa, who own a commercial laundry business that delivers linens, towels, and similar products to restaurants in Los Angeles.
The family wasn’t rich by any means, Golf Digest reported, but they made enough to support their kids’ dreams and give them a stable and comfortable home in La Cañada.
“I’ve been very lucky,” Morikawa told the publication. “We never had to think about money growing up, never had to think about what we were having for dinner. I wasn’t a kid that wanted many things; I never asked for a lot. But if I did need something or I did want something, I was very lucky to have parents who were able to afford stuff like that.” He told the U.S.-Japan Council in an interview that his parents “raised me in a very great household.”
Morikawa began playing golf at five years old but he’s the only member of his family who’s really passionate about the sport. “It’s kind of my own thing,” he said in an interview with PGA Tour. He began getting lessons at a junior camp at Scholl Canyon in Glendale after his parents convinced the organizers to let him in, despite him not being old enough to join.
While writing a piece for Sky Sports, Morikawa praised his parents, saying they taught him to respect everyone no matter who they are. “My parents, Blaine and Debbie, have given me everything I’ve ever wanted, and I couldn’t have been more fortunate to grow up in a family like that,” he wrote. “I’ve been very lucky and blessed to have that in my life. For them to teach me to respect others, that’s huge.”
“They really want me to be respectful to anyone,” he continued. “It doesn’t matter who you’re with or who you’re around. You never know who someone might be, who they are or what they’ve gone through. Just respecting others was the big thing they taught me when I was growing up as a kid.”
2. Collin Morikawa’s Father’s Family Is From Hawaii & He Spent Many Summers Visiting Maui & Oahu
Morikawa’s father, who is of Japanese descent, was born in California, but the golfer’s paternal grandparents were born and raised in Hawaii, where he still has a lot of family members. His mother is from Southern California and is of Chinese descent.
Morikawa’s paternal grandparents were born in Maui and he said he has a lot of family members there and on Oahu. “We have so many cousins, I lose count,” he told Golfweek. An article that ran in The Maui News in 2019 quoted Morikawa as saying, “A long, long time ago in Lahaina [Maui], I think [my grandparents] had a family restaurant. I wish I knew the name of it, but they did have a restaurant in Lahaina.”
One of the newspaper’s readers tracked down an old matchbox that had a “Morikawa Restaurant” advertisement on it, confirming that it did exist. He bought the matchbox on eBay and eventually managed to get it to the pro golfer, who said it was “amazing” to see it.
“It’s so crazy to see something like that because I didn’t know anything about the restaurant, I had never been to it — it was closed well before I was born,” Morikawa told The Maui News. “But my dad used to go there over summers. He grew up in California, but he used to go over the summers because that’s where my grandparents spent all their time, that’s where they grew up.”
The pro golfer traveled to Hawaii many times as a kid to visit family and said it feels a lot like home. “I love the Hawaii swing,” he said during a pre-tournament press conference in Hawaii. “Any time I can start in Maui, come to Oahu, I’m going to be playing. Obviously having family out here, my entire dad’s side, it makes things a little more special and makes it feel more like home even though I never lived here.”
3. Collin Morikawa’s Paternal Ancestors Are From Japan & He Spoke About Visiting the Country for the First Time a Few Years Ago
Morikawa was born in the U.S. and is a proud American, but has also spoken about his Japanese and Chinese heritage and his experience visiting Japan for the first time a few years ago. He spoke with the U.S.-Japan Council and shared that when he traveled to Japan with his family, none of them had ever been before.
He said despite his father’s family having no known relatives there, “by far it was my favorite trip ever.” He explained that he felt a strong connection to that country and added, “When you go over there – and that was the first time I was there – there was an instant connection, and that was something I had never felt. It felt amazing… I felt that love. I felt that this is where my heritage and my life has started.”
Morikawa shared in an article for Sky Sports that he is a very proud American but he loves to compete in Japan and see the support from fans there.
“It was so cool going to Japan last year for the Zozo Championship and see people recognizing me a little bit easier than they might have out here at a regular PGA Tour event in who-knows-where,” he wrote. “The fans there could still see that they are similar to me, and there’s a sense of pride in that. They can see that someone like them has been able to succeed out here on the PGA Tour.”
4. Collin Morikawa Has a Younger Brother Named Garrett Morikawa Who Is Studying Business at the University of California, Riverside
Morikawa has a younger brother, Garrett, who is attending the University of California, Riverside, according to his LinkedIn. His profile shows that he is set to graduate with a business degree in 2025, with a focus on marketing or management.
According to Golf Digest, Garrett Morikawa was always more into soccer than golf, and his LinkedIn profile states that he “shadowed soccer coaches for a local youth soccer club.”
Morikawa hasn’t posted many photos on his social media with his family, but he shared a happy birthday message to his younger brother on December 12, 2016. Along with a throwback photo of the two brothers, Morikawa wrote, “Even though you’re almost as tall as me, you’ll always be my little bro. Happy Birthday Garrett!”
5. Collin Morikawa Is Married to Katherine Zhu, Who Is a Talented Golfer Herself
Morikawa is married to Katherine Zhu, a talented golfer in her own right. Zhu was born on January 13, 1996, in Vancouver, Canada, to Chinese parents. She attended high school in China, Zhuji Hailiang Private High School, before deciding to return to North America to attend college, choosing Pepperdine University in Malibu, California.
Zhu comes from an athletic family, with a father who loved soccer and was a champion tennis player, and a mother who ran track, she shared with Pepperdine Waves. While Zhu played tennis when she was younger, she switched to golf as a teenager and became a star golfer in college.
Morikawa and Zhu met through a mutual friend, who showed Zhu’s Instagram photos to the future PGA Tour pro. He was interested in her and they began texting, and soon after that, in March 2017, they started dating. Morikawa proposed to his girlfriend in the Bahamas in November 2021, something he said he was incredibly nervous about, and they tied the knot the following year.
Zhu said they’re really well suited to each other and both love golf, traveling, and food. “When Collin is practicing, I am looking for restaurants on Yelp and Instagram,” she told the New York Post. They also watch a lot of Food Network shows, she said, like “Chopped” and “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.” When they’re not on the road, they live in Las Vegas.
Morikawa and Zhu fostered many dogs over the years but decided to get one of their own, a goldendoodle named Koa, in December 2020. The puppy has its own Instagram page and over 8,000 followers and its owners share frequent updates about their adorable dog. In fact, Koa was featured at their wedding, where he accompanied the couple to the altar in his own black tuxedo.
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Collin Morikawa’s Family: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know