Cal Golf: Collin Morikawa Needs Big Day 2 After Slow Start at Northern Trust

Colin Morikawa has work to do after a lackluster start Thursday to his three-week quest to win the FedEx Cup championship.

Morikawa shot an even-par 71 and resides in a tie for 85th place after the opening round of The Northern Trust tournament at Boston, the first of three events in the FedEx Cup playoffs.

The 23-year-old Cal grad, two weeks removed from winning the PGA Championship for his first victory in a major, trails four golfers atop the leaderboard by seven strokes headed into Friday.

Morikawa began the week in second place in the FedEx Cup standings. The field of 125 golfers will be cut to 70 before next week’s BMW Championships outside of Chicago. The top 30 players in the standings after that will compete at the Tour Championship in Atlanta to determine who wins the $15 million FedEx Cup first series prize.

Fellow Cal alum Max Homa, not in contention for the FedEd Cup series title, shot a two-under 69 on Thursday and is tied for 53rd. Another ex-Cal golfer, Byeong Hun An, struggled to a 77 and is 13 strokes off the pace.

Morikawa will have to return to the form he displayed at the PGA Championship at Harding Park in San Francisco two weeks ago to assure he makes he cut. At the PGA, Morikawa was nowhere near the leaders after shooting a one-under 69 on Thursday.

But he posted blistering scores of 65 and 64 on the weekend, the best final two rounds ever assembled at a major, to win by two strokes.

On Thursday, Morikawa never found a consistent rhythm. He had three birdies and no bogeys and never put together consecutive birdies.

FedEx Cup leader Justin Thomas sits in 23-way tie for 30th place after shooting a three-under 68. He had back-to-back bogeys on his front nine but shot an eagle on the par-5 18th and had two more birdies after making the turn.

Webb Simpson, third in the FedEx Cup standings, shot a 70, and Bryson DeChambeau, sitting at No. 4 on the FedEx ladder, scored a 71.

Harris English, Kevin Streelman, Cameron Davis and Russell Henley all are tied for the lead after shooting seven-under 64s. English, Streelman and Henley all included eagles in their rounds.

Seven more golfers are knotted at 65, including Sebastian Munoz of Spain, who made seven straight birdies to begin the day.

Tiger Woods is at 3-under 68.

Homa, who won the NCAA title at Cal in 2013, had three birdies on the way to his 69. Hun An had seven of his eight bogeys over the the final 12 holes to finish in a tie for 121st or last place.

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo

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