Cal Golf: Great Start, Bad Finish for Collin Morikawa at Tour Championship

He was at 8-under through 10 holes before 2 bogeys and a double down the stretch

Photo by Adam Hagy, USA Today

It was all going so well for Collin Morikawa.

The 23-year-old former Cal star opened Day 1 of the Tour Championship by shooting 3-under par through 10 holes on Friday. He was tied for third place at that point, just two strokes back of Dustin Johnson.

The rest of afternoon went sideways for Morikawa at the East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta. He had bogeys on 13 and 16, then a double-bogey on 17 and finished the day at 1-over par on par 70 layout.

Coupled with his starting score of minus-5 — based on the strokes-based scoring system used for the tournament — Morikawa is tied for 14th place at minus-4 heading into Saturday’s second round.

Morikawa is the only golfer among the top 15 on the adjusted scoreboard who failed to shoot par on Friday.

The Tour Championship, which runs through Labor Day on Monday, will determine who wins the $15 million FedEx Cup series first prize.

Dustin Johnson and Jon Rahm — who began the day at minus-10 and minus-8, respectively — are co-leaders at minus-13 overall. Johnson shot a 67 and Rahm carded a 65.

Justin Thomas, equipped with a minus-7 starting score, is third at 11 under after shooting a 66. Rory McIlroy, whose wife delivered their first child earlier in the week, shot a 64 and is fourth at minus-9.

Morikawa, whose victory at the PGA Championship last month was his second tour victory this season, began Friday with a bogey on the first hole.

But he was four under over the next 11 holes, with birdies on Nos. 6, 7, 9 and 10, putting him at 8-under par.

Morikawa struggled in the immediate aftermath of his first career major victory at the PGA Championship. He failed to make the cut in his next tournament, then was nine over par through 36 holes a week ago at the BMW Championship.

By shooting consecutive 68s on the weekend at the BMW, Morikawa seemed back on track.

“It’s been kind of an up-and-down past couple of weeks, trying to figure out how to play golf again after the PGA Championship,” Morikawa said on Wednesday. “We’re headed in the right direction. I’m ready to play some really good golf this week.”

He achieved that through 12 holes, but shot four-over starting with the 13th hole and now finds himself nine strokes off the pace. He sank a 22-foot birdie putt on the par-3 ninth hole.

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

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