Collin Morikawa Says Hot - He Shares the RBC Lead After a Second-Round 66

Fellow ex-Cal golfer Byeong Hun An is just three strokes off the lead after his own round of 66.

Cal grad Collin Morikawa played error-free golf Friday to move into a tie for the lead at the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links on Hilton Head Island in South Carolina.

But there are seven golfers within one stroke as the weekend arrives, with players striving for a share of a $20 million total purse.

Morikawa, who began the day tied for second after a 6-under 65 on Thursday, followed that with a 5-under 66 that featured five birdies and no bogeys. Among those was a 35-foot birdie putt from off the green on the 12th hole.

Coming off a tie for third place Sunday at the 88th Masters that boosted him to No. 13 in the official world golf rankings, Morikawa, 27, is at minus-11 through 36 holes and tied with Tom Hoge, Sepp Straka and J.T. Poston. 

Morikawa has six career victories as a pro but just once in nearly three years. Now the two-time major winner appears to be turning things around, with five rounds under par in his past six.

He missed reaching 10 greens in regulation on Friday, but still put togegther a nice round.

"Still have a lot of trust in the swing," he said. "Whether it went right or wrong, I was able to kind of accept the fact and move on. Two or three months ago -- or even two weeks ago -- if I saw a couple of bad shots it was like, 'What do I fix? What do I try?'

"I kind of roughly know where the ball is going, and even when I'm missing it, still everything is a little bit tighter," he said. "That's all you can ask for."

One stroke back of the lead foursome at minus-10 are Patrick Rodgers, Mackenzie Hughes and Masters runner-up Ludvig Aberg. 

One-time Cal golfer Byeong Hun An, 32, is just three strokes back of the lead group after a second-round 66 that has him in a tie with world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler at 8 under par. An had three birdies and an eagle-3 on the par-5 fifth hole.

Things did not go as well with fellow Cal grad Max Homa, who shared a piece of third place with Morikawa at the Masters. The 33-year-old shot an even-par 71 on Thursday and got off to a great start in the second round with birdies on each of the first three holes.

He was at 4 under for the day after 11 holes before finishing with bogeys on 12, 13 and 17 to end the day at 70. Homa enters the weekend at 1 under par and part of a seven-way tie for 50th place.