Even before he teed up for his first shot at the Hero World Challenge, Collin Morikawa was a winner. Finishing his morning practice on Tuesday at the Albany Golf Course, Morikawa hopped on to the boat and headed to a beach, finding the ideal setting in The Bahamas to propose to his long-time girlfriend Katherine Zhu. “I wanted to make sure I proposed on the beach, because I was so worried about dropping the ring into the water," Morikawa told PGATour.com.

Even before he teed up for his first shot at the Hero World Challenge, Collin Morikawa was a winner. Finishing his morning practice on Tuesday at the Albany Golf Course, Morikawa hopped on to the boat and headed to a beach, finding the ideal setting in The Bahamas to propose to his long-time girlfriend Katherine Zhu. “I wanted to make sure I proposed on the beach, because I was so worried about dropping the ring into the water," Morikawa told PGATour.com.

He did not. She said yes.

Just when you thought 2021 couldn’t get any better for him—British Open champion, engineer of USA’s dominant Ryder Cup triumph, first American to finish a season as No. 1 on the European Tour—now engaged.

A victory at the Hero World Challenge would have also placed the world No. 2 on the top of the world rankings for the first time. It appeared the most likely scenario heading into Sunday with Morikawa enjoying a comfortable five-shot lead after the third round. However, a wild final round saw the American double bogey the fourth and sixth to end tied-fifth. Viktor Hovland, who erased a six-shot deficit, stalled his march to No.1 by winning the event in his maiden appearance.

The Norwegian, incidentally, was rooming with Morikawa in Albany. He knew Morikawa was going to propose when the American had requested for the master suite.

“That was a decent enough excuse to let him have it,” Hovland said with a chuckle.

Morikawa has had plenty of things go his way lately.

At just 24, he is on the fast lane on the course. Turning professional only a couple of years ago, Morikawa secured a maiden title in just his eighth start at the 2019 Barracuda Championship. A year later, he clinched the 2020 PGA Championship on debut to become the fourth golfer in history to win the event before turning 24. (The other three? Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy.)

In July this year, he also placed his name beside Bobby Jones by winning his second Major in eight or fewer starts at The Open, also on debut. Morikawa recorded 22 consecutive cuts made to begin his pro career on the PGA Tour, falling shy of Woods’s record by three.

Success at the top level can seldom come faster, and smoother.

“I wouldn't call it surprised,” Morikawa said when asked if his success came to him unexpectedly. “I set a lot of lofty goals. They're not unreasonable, but I set a lot of high goals and that's just the standard I live up to. It always has been. I just keep pushing myself.”

Morikawa knew what was at stake before the start of the DP World Tour Championship last month—becoming the first American to win the European Tour’s Race to Dubai title—and wanted it. Sure enough, he clinched the season-ending tournament in Dubai. “I thought about it going into the week as ‘yes, I want to be the first American to win the Race to Dubai, to create history like that. How special would that be’,” he said.

Excelling in his junior career, the boy from Los Angeles had earned the right to walk into any college of his liking in the US. He picked the University of California, Berkeley, in 2015 and shone bright in collegiate golf to rise to No. 1 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking. Switching to professional golf was an option much before 2019, but Morikawa resisted it.

“I needed a little extra time to get ready and by the time I turned pro, I wanted to come out here and win," he said.

That's exactly what he did. A golfer at the top of his game at the moment, a two-time Major champion with five PGA Tour titles, a Ryder Cup winner, a business graduate from one of the most premier universities in the world—all this before turning 25. Yet, the bar is not high enough for the young star.

“If I had set the bar (that) I wanted to win two Majors by the time I finished my career, I'd be complacent, right?” Morikawa said. “I'd just be okay with myself. But I'm not. I want to keep winning. I want to keep beating these guys out here. Just competitive, that's who I am.”