Golf is a game of constant scrutiny. Nothing goes unnoticed. From a slight tweak in your swing to a fresh pair of shoes, every little move creates fan chatter and media buzz. Change your driver? Everyone’s talking. Switch your outfit? You’re trending. And when Collin Morikawa showed up at the 2025 Travelers Championship with a bold new experiment, it didn’t take long for the spotlight to find him. While some changes are for the good, some don’t impress — ask Scottie Scheffler, whose reaction was somewhere between surprise and side-eye.
Morikawa’s bold new experiment
The first round wrapped up at TPC River Highlands on Thursday, and Scottie Scheffler looked every bit back in form after a mediocre finish at the U.S. Open last week. Sitting comfortably atop the leaderboard, tied in first place with Austin Eckroat at 8-under, Scheffler had things going for him. He had 5 birdies in the front nine and an eagle on the 13th hole. “I did a lot of good stuff. I felt like the conditions were pretty challenging out there, especially late in the day. I was able to hole some nice putts, as well,” Scheffler told the media after his round.
While he discussed his round, the media ultimately asked him about Collin Morikawa’s newest experiment on the course — playing a few shots with his glove off. Morikawa thought of this when he was practicing on Monday before the tournament began, to figure out if it actually helps him play better. “I was sitting on the range on Monday, kind of working by myself, and I’ve done bare feet, so no shoes, and that normally works, but I don’t think I’m going to do that. It’s just trying a bunch of things. Look, we’re crazy. Honestly, we’re crazy because we try a lot of things, but that’s what makes us really good is we’re trying to find the little things,” Morikawa said when the media asked him bout his latest experiment.
And Scheffler was taken aback. “I’ve tried to hit without my glove, and I’m not any good at it. You definitely won’t see me doing that. I’ve got sweaty hands, so that ain’t going to work,” the World No.1 responded immediately, before the reporter could even complete the question. Scheffler made it clear — been there, done that, and not going back. And for someone who battles with sweaty hands, adding to the existing humid conditions, glove-free golf is not ideal.
Meanwhile, Morikawa had his reason for skipping the glove for a few shots, which he is doing for the very first time.“Look, when it comes down to it, our hands are what makes us such good athletes and such good golfers is that we have so much feel. For some reason when I’ve taken the glove off this week, it’s kind of worked. It’s just — problem is it’s really hot and it’s sweaty,” Morikawa added while also relating to Scheffler’s struggle with sweaty palms.
This is fun – Collin Morikawa hit most of his approach shots with no glove on Thursday at Travelers. Says he experimented with it on the range and … it worked. Talked about feel and how golf is all about the hands. I like it — very minimalist. The only problem?
“It’s really… pic.twitter.com/qPUTMtOVcw
— Dylan Dethier (@dylan_dethier) June 19, 2025
And the purpose of wearing a glove is also for that, to avoid your club slipping away from you, and to give you a good grip. But some players feel that taking the glove off during some shots helps them stay more connected to the club and execute their shots better. But it needs practice before you head on to the course without a glove. “Yeah, it’s been a few-day progress. Look, I feel like I’ve been putting good swings on it, and they just keep missing in the same spot, so it’s not like my misses are all over the place. I just keep missing 30 feet left,” said Collin Morikawa, who finished 3-under for the day and is tied 15th.
While he didn’t go glove-free the entire round, he was not too surprised by his bad shots — “But honestly, I started seeing shots that I was hitting, and even the bad ones were not good, but like that’s kind of where I expect them to be. It was just a back-and-forth kind of thing,” implying that he was ready to face the consequences of this new experiment. But Morikawa isn’t the first golfer to go glove-free.
Morikawa is taking inspiration from the past
While Morikawa may have thought of this experiment randomly, he’s not the first person who had this bizarre idea. Fred Couples, who won the 1992 Masters and has had over 60 professional wins, was famous for going glove-free. He explained that he began playing without his gloves quite early on because his gloves would get ruined, and his parents had to buy him new ones every day.
Ben Hogan, too, who is regarded as one of the best ball strikers in the history of the game, didn’t wear gloves. Even Lucas Glover, who ironically has ‘glove’ in his name, said that he had never used a glove in his entire career. “Never, ever wore one,” Glover said in a 2021 podcast interview, because he couldn’t really feel the club with the gloves on and jokingly added that he would be a 10-handicap if he ever wore one. And he went on to win the 2009 U.S. Open without one. Only time will tell whether Collin Morikawa’s latest experiment will earn him his first win for the season this week.
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