Ball control key in Kiawah Island battle

Defending champion Collin Morikawa says keeping ball control in the fast-changing winds of Kiawah Island will be the key to his chance of back-to-back PGA Championship victories.

The 24-year-old American captured last year’s title at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco in only his second major start, joining Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Jack Nicklaus as the only players to win the event before turning 24.

Only Woods and Brooks Koepka have won in back-to-back years since it adopted a stroke-play format in 1958.

“I don’t think there’s added pressure,” Morikawa said. “We’re at a different venue. If we were at Harding Park again, I might feel a little different. I’m doing all my prep work that I normally would. I’m sticking to what I know works.”

For Morikawa, statistically the PGA Tour’s top iron player, that means being comfortable hitting long irons into greens while the blustery winds of the Ocean course threaten to blow every shot off target.