Cal Golf: Collin Morikawa Shoots 1 Under, but Tied for 73rd Place at Scottish Open

This was Collin Morikawa’s experience Thursday during his first round of golf on the European tour: The former Cal star and world’s fourth-ranked player made just one bogey in his opening round at the Scottish Open yet finds himself in a 23-way tie for 73rd place at minus-1.

The field mostly got the better of the course at The Renaissance Club in North Berwick, Scotland, in a tuneup before next week’s British Open.

Jack Senior, a 32-year-old from England whose most recent professional victory came two years ago on the second-tier European Challenge Tour, is the first-round leader after shooting a seven-under 64 on Thursday. Senior, who is not listed among the 300 players in the Official World Golf Rankings, made eight birdies and one bogey.

Justin Thomas and Lee Westwood share second place at six-under 65.

Thomas, ranked No. 3 in the world, played bogey-free golf and included an eagle on the par-5 seventh hole. Westwood, 48, also avoided carding any bogeys on Thursday.

There is a nine-player logjam tied for fourth place, including world No. 1 Jon Rahm and fellow Spaniard Alvaro Quiros, whose round of 66 included an eagle and a double-bogey.

Rahm admitted being caught off guard by his introduction at the first tee.

“The U.S. Open champion ... the Race to Dubai champion ... the world No. 1 ... from Spain, Jon Rahm!”

Rory McIlroy and Thomas, who were Rahm’s playing partners for the day, were introduced simply by their names.

“I was just a little surprised by it,” Rahm said. “I didn’t expect it. My ego might have gotten a little too big, so I tried to hit a little too hard on No. 1.”

Xander Schauffele, ranked No. 5 in the world, finished at four-under 67 and is part of a 14-way tie for 13th place.

Clearly, the field has not begun to shake out. There are 26 golfers within three strokes at the top.

Morikawa sits six strokes off the pace after carding a one-under 70. A bigger concern is that 71 other golfers stand between him and Senior at the top of the leaderboard.

His immediate issue is climbing out of any jeopardy of missing the cut on Friday. There were 94 golfers at 70 or better, and any slippage could drop one of those out of the top-100 in the field of 156.

Morikawa bogeyed the second hole then made par or better on every hole the rest of the day. He posted birdies on the par-5 seventh and par-4 13th holes.

Morikawa tees off Friday at 5:10 a.m. PT.

Also tied at one under is McIlroy, ranked No. 11 in the world.

Cover photo of Collin Morikawa by Michael Madrid, USA Today

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

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