Collin Morikawa Stays Hot at St. Jude With Second-Round 65

UPDATED

Collin Morikawa delivered a second straight strong outing at the St. Jude Championship, suggesting he is ready to make a run in the season-ending FedEx Cup playoffs.

The 28-year-old Cal grad fired a 5-under 65 on Friday on the heels of a 66 in the opening round and was tied for second place at 9 under par.

England’s Tommy Fleetwood shot a 64 after a 63 on Thursday and has a four-stroke lead at minus-13. Morikawa shared second place with first-round leader Akshay Bhatia and Justin Rose.

Rose was among 18 golfers still on the course when play was suspended in the late afternoon when a heavy storm hit. He birdied No. 17 on Saturday and moved to minus-10 and possession of second place.

The St. Jude at TPC Southwind in Memphis is the first leg of the three-week FedEx Cup playoffs. The field of 69 will be cut to 50 on Sunday, leading to the BMW Championship at suburban Baltimore. From there, the top 30 players in the FedEx Cup standings will play the season-ending Tour Championship at Atlanta, where the winner pockets a $10 million prize.

Morikawa, who finished second to Scottie Scheffler in this event last year, already has clinched a spot at the BMW by virtue to his No. 19 spot in the standings.

But he had not played well this summer, missing the cut in his two most recent events, including the Open Championship at Scotland. He is No. 6 in the official world rankings but has not won a tournament since October 2023.

Now using his fifth different caddie — Mark Urbanek —since April, Morikawa has been sharp for two days in Memphis.

He had three birdies and an eagle-2 on the ninth hole Friday during a bogey-free round. On Thursday, Morikawa assembled five birdies against a single bogey.

Scheffler is two strokes back of Morikawa at minus-7 after a wild second round score of 66 in which he had eight birdies and four bogeys.

Cal alum Michael Kim is in trouble after shooting 2-over 72 for the second day in a row, leaving him at plus-4 and in 65th place. He had three bogeys on the back nine Friday and needs a big weekend recovery to reach at least a two-way tie for 20th place to qualify for the BMW, according to NBC Sports.

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