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From the 72 players in the field at the $20million Travelers Championship on Thursday, Collin Morikawa ranked 16th in Strokes Gained Approach.

Standard stuff, it seemed, given the two-time major champions is one of the best iron players in the world and opened with a solid three-under 67 at TPC River Highlands.

The real strange part, though? Morikawa got there without wearing a glove.

Indeed, for the first time in his professional career, Morikawa went gloveless for plenty of his iron shots after deciding to try something new when he arrived on the range in Connecticut on Monday.

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“Look, we’re crazy,” Morikawa said after the first round, where the early pace was set by Scottie Scheffler and Austin Eckroat at eight-under.

“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.

“Even though last week I think I was top-five or whatever in approach, it’s like, I know I can get better and feel more comfortable. Even though it ends up close, it’s a comfort factor of just being less stressed out there.”

While Aaron Rai, his rival in the field, has worn two gloves since he first started playing the game, Morikawa has decided to go gloveless as he aims to cut out pulled iron shots.

“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,” Morikawa said. “For some reason when I’ve taken the glove off this week, it’s kind of worked.

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The only problem, though?

“It’s really hot and it’s sweaty.”

“But honestly, Morikawa added, “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.”

Morikawa’s best shot of the day was gloveless short-iron into the par-3 16th.

“16 was exactly how I am used to seeing shots,” the American said. “Obviously it doesn’t have to be five feet, but just the curvature of the shot is what I was really, really happy to see about that.”

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collin morikawa Travelers Championship

Ben Parsons is the Senior Writer at bunkered and is the man to come to for all of the latest news, across both the professional and amateur games. Formerly of The Mirror and Press Association, he is a member at Halifax Golf Club and is a long-suffering fan of both Manchester United and the Wales rugby team.