Photo by Brad Penner, USA Today
Cal Golf: Collin Morikawa Swallowed Up by Winged Foot in U.S. Open 1st Round
Updated with final Thursday results:
Collin Morikawa knew the Winged Foot Golf Course would be a ferocious challenge this week at the U.S. Open.
He didn’t know it would devour him whole.
Barely a month removed from winning the PGA Championship, Morikawa suffered through the worst 18 holes of his professional career in Thursday’s opening round, carding eight bogeys on the way to a 6-over-par 76.
He is in a tie for 122nd place and in jeopardy of missing the cut Friday.
"Got a little work to do tomorrow. Obviously, I'm going to need to shoot something in the red," the 23-year-old Cal grad said, referring to the need for an under-par score.
The day went much better for another former Cal golfer, Byeong Hun An, who made par on his first nine holes and overcame three subsequent bogeys with birdies on the final two holes for a 1-over score of 71. He is tied for 31st after the first round.
Winged Foot is infamous for its ruthless and unforgiving nature. Only one of five previous U.S. Open winners on the course at Mamaroneck, N.Y., finished with a score under par.
Geoff Ogilvy won the 2006 Open at Winged Foot with a 5-over-par final score. Hale Irwin won at 7-over in 1974 on a weekend later dubbed “Massacre at Winged Foot.”
It was every bit a massacre for the usually unshakable Morikawa.
“I didn’t get off to a great start and felt OK until I made the turn and started making some bad decisions. That’s going to get you out here," Morikawa said. "You pick the wrong club, you miss the wrong spot, you’re trying to make 5 instead of 4.
Coming off a sixth-place finish at the FedEx Cup Championship two weeks ago, Morikawa bogeyed No. 1 to open the day. He had birdies on the fifth and ninth holes, sandwiched around bogeys on Nos. 7 and 8, and finished the front nine at a respectable plus-1.
Then began a parade a bogeys — on Nos. 10, 11, 14, 16 and 17, leaving Morikawa in the dust of the day’s leaders.
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Morikawa declined to put blame on the course, noting that playing partner Justin Thomas made plenty of good shots on the way to a Day 1 leading scorer of 5-under 65.
“The course was obviously going to be tough. The fairways started to firm up and you had to adjust off the tee," he said.."Other than that, there were some get-able pin locations. I mean, I was playing with JT and he made a bunch of birdies. It was doable today.”
The day went no better for fellow Cal grad Max Homa. He had five bogeys and a double-bogey on the par-4 14th hole and finished at 7-over 77, which left him in a tie for 137th in a field of 144 entries.
Thomas, who played in the same group with Morikawa and Tiger Woods, was among golfers unbothered by the course. He sprinkled in six birdies to go with just one bogey to score 65.
Patrick Reed is tied for second place at 4-under 66, thanks in part to an hole-in-one on the par-3 seventh hole. Thomas Pieters and Matthew Wolff also shot 66s.
With no fans allowed at the U.S. Open, Reed missed the experience of spectators celebrating his ace.
“It would have been nuts. Up here in New York, the fans are amazing. You go ahead and you hole out from the fairway, you make a hole-in-one, the fans will just go crazy,” Reed said.
Rory McIlroy bogeyed the first hole then played 4-under the rest of the day to wind at at 67 and part of a three-way tie for fifth place. It was his best opening-round score at a major in six years.
Woods made five birdies and putted well, but finished with a 3-over 73 after a double-bogey on 18. He is tied for 73rd place.
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Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo
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