After turning professional in 2019, golfer Collin Morikawa won the PGA Championship in 2020 and the Open Championship in 2021. He also has several top finishes in major tournaments and represented Team USA in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Now, fans are curious about the woman who has been seen by his side cheering him on during his tournaments. Here’s more about Morikawa’s wife, Katherine Zhu.
How long Morikawa and Zhu have been together and when they got married
Morikawa and Zhu met in 2017 through a mutual friend who was on the University of California, Berkeley women’s golf team, the same college Morikawa attended.
The pair dated for several years and on Nov. 30, 2021, the golfer proposed to his lady and she happily accepted.
“I am very lucky to have her,” Morikawa said during an interview with Golf Central. “Kat has been by my side through it all. She would hate me if I didn’t say this, but I didn’t start winning in college until she showed up in my life, so thanks Kat.”
On Nov. 26, 2022, the couple tied the knot at Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles in front of 100 guests as a 10-piece wind and string orchestra provided the music.
For her big day, the bride wore a Vera Wang dress while the groom rocked a suit from Stitch+Heart.
Zhu went to high school in China and college in the U.S.
Zhu was born on Jan. 13, 1996, in Vancouver, Canada. Her family later moved to China and she attended Zhuji Hailiang Private High School in Shaoxing. After graduating in 2014, Zhu went to college in the U.S. at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California, where she studied international management.
Nowadays, she’s busy traveling with her husband to different cities wherever he competes, as they love exploring different towns together and enjoy trying new foods.
In a piece for Sky Sports, Morikawa talked about being on the road with Zhu, writing: “She made things a lot easier, and it wasn’t as lonely. And I think that’s why I was able to go out there and just play golf, and she could get my mind off of it after or before the rounds.”
Zhu comes from a family that loves sports and is an athlete herself
Zhu comes from a sports family and is an athlete herself.
Her father, Mike Chu, was a tennis player. He also played soccer, and her mother ran track. Zhu followed in her dad’s footsteps first and began playing tennis when she was a child. She ended up winning an amateur title at 13. But when she got to college, she became more interested in golf and focused her attention there.
While at Pepperdine University, Zhu received multiple accolades including the Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar and WCC All-Academic.
She’s been known to caddy for her hubby from time to time and these days, takes after her mother and started running as a hobby. Zhu competed in her first marathon in 2023.
