Why did Collin Morikawa go gloveless at Travelers Championship Day 1? Real reason explored

Collin Morikawa has not used any gloves to play in the first round of the 2025 Travelers Championship. The American golfer started his outing at this week's PGA Tour's signature event on Thursday, June 19.

He played the opening round of 67, and in the post-round press conference, he candidly reflected on the reason for not using the gloves. The American golfer acknowledged trying "a lot things," saying (via ASAP Sports):

"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. Even though last week I think I was top 5 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."

He further talked about the reason for not wearing gloves this week.

"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," he added.

Collin Morikawa goes gloveless at Travelers Championship Day 1 (Image Source: Imagn)

Even without gloves, Collin Morikawa had a decent start to his game at the TPC River Highlands golf course. He started the game on the first hole and then made a birdie on the second and another birdie on the fourth. On the back nine, he added two birdies and two bogeys for an overall round of 3-under 67. He was tied for 15th after the first round.

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When will Collin Morikawa tee off on Friday at the Travelers Championship 2025?

The second round of the Travelers Championship is scheduled to start at 8:00 am ET on Friday, June 20. Players will tee off in groups of two. Collin Morikawa is scheduled to begin the second round in a group with Xander Schauffele at 10:25 am ET.

Morikawa has recorded two runner-up finishes this season, so it would be interesting to see with his new experiment on the greens if he could finally win the tournament.

He started the 2025 PGA Tour season at The Sentry with a solo second-place finish. He played the opening round of 66, followed by the next three rounds of 65, 62, and 67 to finish runner-up in the event.

Morikawa was then a runner-up at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, where he carded the four rounds of 71, 68, 67, and 72. Meanwhile, in his last outing at the US Open, he settled in T23 place.