Cal Golf: Amid Torrid Scores, Collin Morikawa Misses the Cut at Northern Trust

On a day of historic low scores at The Northern Trust, Collin Morikawa could never find the consistency he needed to get to the weekend.

The 23-year-old former Cal star shot a 72 and wound up a 1-over for the first two days at TPC Boston, the first of three legs in the FedEx Cup playoffs.

Morikawa needed an eagle on the par-5 18th hole to stay alive, and he closed with a double-bogey 7. That left him four strokes shy of making the cut and in a tie for 94th place

He began the week sitting second in the FedEx Cup standings two weeks after winning the PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco in his most recent event.

But while Dustin Johnson and Scottie Scheffler tore up the course Friday — shooting 60 and 59, respectively — Morikawa missed the cut for just the second time in 28 events over his two seasons as a professional.

Golfers needed to shoot 3-under par for the first two days to advance, and Morikawa only briefly got within one stroke of that. He was at minus-2 after a birdie on the par-3 eighth hole.

But bogeys on No. 10 and 12 used Morikawa back to even par for the tournament, meaning he needed to shoot 3-under over the final six holes. He made a birdie on 14, then made three straight pars before his double on 18.

Morikawa should still be in play next week at the BMW Championships outside Chicago because the top 70 in the FedEx Cup standings get invites. The top 30 after that event will play at the Tour Championship in Atlanta from Sept. 4-7 to determine the final FedEx Cup standings.

Justin Thomas, the FedEx Cup points leader, is at 7-under and made the cut as part of a logjam for 20th place.

Tiger Woods, not among the FedEx Cup contenders, shot a 67 Friday and will play the weekend after going 3-under through 36 holes.

Meanwhile, Johnson and Scheffler were spectacular on Friday.

Johnson included two eagles and seven birdies to go 11-under through the first 11 holes and wound up with a 60 and a two-day score of 127.

Johnson refused to be disappointed that he couldn’t get to 57 or 58 when that appeared possible through 11 holes. “Anytime you shoot a number like (60), you’re never going to be disappointed. I’m definitely not,” Johnson said said. “I feel like the game is in good form. I need to come out (Saturday) and do the same thing.”

At 15 under, Johnson has a two-stroke lead over Cameron Davis and Scheffler, a 24-year-old tour rookie, whose 59 made him the 11th player in PGA history to shoot a sub-60 round.

Scheffler who tied for fourth place at the PGA, had 12 birdies and no bogeys for a 59 that pushed his two-day score to 129.

"A lot of times when you're playing well, you can lose that momentum towards the end of the round or have a hiccup here or there,” Scheffler said. “The momentum stayed the whole time, and I made a lot of putts.”

Davis followed his first-round 64 with a 65, but still sits two strokes behind Johnson.

Meanwhile, former Cal star Max Homa missed the cut by one stroke after a bogey on the 18th hole. Homa, the 2013 NCAA champion while representing the Bears, had four birdies and four bogeys on Friday to score 71 after shooting a 2-under 69 the day before.

His two-day total of 140 just missed the cut, leaving him in a tie for 71st place

Cal’s other player on the tour, Byeong Hun An, wound up 120th after shooting 73 on Friday to finish at 8-over 150.

He had eight bogeys on Thursday on the way to shooting a six-over 77, and had four more to neutralize four birdies on Friday.

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

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