Collin Morikawa Opens Tour Championship With a 64

Collin Morikawa began his opening round at the Tour Championship with a bogey.

Things got better from there for the 29-year-old Cal grad.

Much better.

Morikawa made birdies on four of the next five holes and converted three more on the back nine — including on No. 18 — on his way to shooting a 6-under 64 to share second place Thursday at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.

The top 30 players in the FedEx Cup standings qualified for the season-ending event, which will award a total purse of $40 million, including $10 million to Sunday’s winner. The field actually is just 29 players because JJ Spaun withdrew due to a shoulder injury.

Morikawa, the winner of two golf majors and seven PGA Tour events overall, would love to capture this event for the first time. He has competed well at the Tour Championship, with three top-10 finishes since 2020, including a runner-up performance two years ago.

By making seven birdies and just the one bogey, Morikawa is in a three-way tie with Norway’s Viktor Hovland, whose 64 featured birdies sandwiched around a bogey on No. 17, and Chris Gotterup, who carded six birdies in a bogey-free round.

Morikawa told reporters he's approaching this tournament the same as he does every other event,

"You're not playing more aggressive just because you only have four rounds to end the season. You're not going to do anything stupid," he said.

Morikawa, who tees off Friday at 10:48 a.m. PT, carded his birdies on Nos. 2, 3, 4, 6, 12, 14 and 18.

He matched his first-round score from a year ago, when he then shot 70s the next two days and wound up tied for 19th. In 2024, when he finished second, Morikawa posted a 66 on the first day before firing a second-round 63.

Australia’s Min Woo Lee, playing in the Tour Championship for the first time, is the leader after an 8-under 62. The 28-year-old, who owns just one PGA Tour victory, didn’t exactly arrive in Atlanta riding momentum.

He entered this week ranked No. 21 in the FedEx Cup standings after tying for 47th at the BMW last week and tying for 55th at the St. Jude, the first leg of the three-week FedEx Cup playoffs.

Lee’s impressive bogey-fee round included eight birdies, including one on the 18th.

These are, theoretically, the best golfers in the world but the course played easy, with no one failing to make par. Only three players wound up shooting 70s, and the crowd at the top of the leaderboard suggests this is a long way from being settled.

Four players, including world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, are tied for fifth after 65s and six more posted 66s.

Scheffler joined Morikawa, Lee, Hovland and Gotterup among 16 players who closed their day with birdies on No. 18.

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