Collin Morikawa defends AimPoint, throws U.S. Open champ under the bus

LA JOLLA, Calif. — While on his radio show on Feb. 4, former U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover called for the PGA Tour to outlaw AimPoint putting, a green-reading method many players have adopted in recent years. This technique has become quite controversial among players and fans, with many critics citing the prolonged time it takes to complete. Of course, slow pace of play has been a pertinent topic of discussion in 2025.

Collin Morikawa is one of those players who employ AimPoint putting, and he has said that this method has “1,000 percent helped” him. So when asked about Glover’s objection to AimPoint and if it affects the pace of play, Morikawa playfully threw him under the bus.

“I don’t have anything against Lucas, but if we’re banning AimPoint, we should ban long-putters,” Morikawa said, which drew quite the laugh from those in the media center at the Genesis Invitational.

After struggling on the greens for most of his time on tour, Glover famously switched to a long putter in recent years, which helped turn his career around. The long putter helped him win twice in 2023, as he ultimately earned a trip to the Tour Championship. The back-to-back wins also allowed him to keep his PGA Tour card through 2025.

But Morikawa feels Glover’s stance on AimPoint is wrong, and the two-time major winner defended the practice vehemently.

“AimPoint does take longer if you’re not doing it properly, right, like if you’re not doing it when other players are reading their putts. I think there’s a respect issue. I think some players might get a little bit too close to the hole, and I get that. When you get too close to the hole when someone else is putting it, I don’t want my line and putt to go over someone else’s foot and marks. But are you going to tell other players not to walk around the hole when we’re picking up putts?” Morikawa said.

“It gets a basis of how I read a putt and how I start my lines. It’s just like reading something from behind the hole or behind the ball, that’s how I’m getting my general read for that. I don’t think people understand how AimPoint works to say this is right or wrong. Does it slow down play? I think some players maybe do it in the wrong spots. And sometimes, look, I’ll admit it, maybe I can’t get in when I want to so it adds a couple more seconds. But I know that, and I’m aware of that. I think players need to be aware if they’re slow or not, right? Like let people know who is slow and do something about it, right?”

Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Follow him on X @jack_milko.