Collin Morikawa Fires a 65, Climbs Into a Tie For 4th Place at The Players

World No. 4 Collin Morikawa shot a 7-under 65 to climb 27 spots into a tie for fourth place after two rounds at The Players Championship on TPC Sawgrass at Ponte Vedra, Florida.

Morikawa carded nine birdies, including four on the first five holes, against two bogeys for the second-best score of the day. A day after posting a 2-under 70 to sit in 31st place, he is tied with world No. 2 Rory McIlroy and Alex Smalley, two strokes off the lead.

"I can't say I drove it great and hit the ball amazing, but I really just took advantage of when I did hit good shots," said Morikawa, who holed out a 39-foot chip for a birdie on the fifth hole. "I putted really nicely. Also, I didn't try fighting it too much. I knew it wasn't quite exactly how I was hitting it, and you just make do."

The 27-year-old Cal grad is coming off a runner-up finish last week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational where he held a three-stroke lead in the final round. The six-time PGA Tour winner also was second in his season opener at The Sentry in January.

The day’s best score belonged to Justin Thomas, who followed a 78 on Thursday with a 10-under 62 to tie the Sawgrass course record and complete a tournament-record 16-stroke swing from the day before. Thomas had 11 birdies over the first 17 holes before a bogey on No. 18 that left him at 4 under for two days and tied for 29th place.

A 15-time winner on the PGA Tour, Thomas is without a victory since the 2022 PGA Championship.

"I hadn't done it that well in a round in a really long time,” Thomas said, “so I'm probably more proud of that than I am of the score today."

Min Woo Lee and Akshay Bhatia each shot 66s and share the lead at 11 under. J.J. Spaun is in third place at 10 under after a 68 on Friday.

Among four former Cal golfers in the field, only Byeong Hun An, ranked 32nd in the world, made the cut. He shot a 69 and is tied for 49th place at 2 under, nine strokes back of the leaders.

Michael Kim, who had recorded five straight top-20 finishes including a tie for second at the Phoenix Open and fourth place last week at the Arnold Palmer, followed his first-round 75 with a 69 and missed the cut by one stroke with an even-par total through two rounds.

Max Homa’s struggles continue as he missed the cut in his fourth straight event. Once ranked No. 5 in the world, Homa will slip further from his current No. 70 position after a two-day score of 6 over par. He opened with a 7-over 79 on Thursday before posting a 3-under 69.

Homa was ranked No. 10 entering the U.S. Open last June but has tumbled since then. He has finished four rounds at just one of six events this season, tied for 53rd place at the AT&T Pebble Beach Open.