Collin Morikawa isn’t the type to allow himself to think too far ahead but even he acknowledged that winning the Zozo Championship in Japan, the country where his father’s side of the family grew up, would hold a special place in his heart.
“There’s obviously a little bit more meaning to this tournament for me, but look, a win’s a win, I’ll take a win anywhere, right?” he said. “I’m doing everything I can the next three days and kind of tonight to make sure I give myself the best opportunity to do that.”
He’s off to a flying start, posting a bogey-free 6-under 64 on Thursday at Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club in the Chiba Prefecture of Japan, the third time he’s shot that figure in 13 career rounds at the course. Morikawa, who started on the back nine, raced to three birdies in his first four holes and barely slowed down. He tacked on birdies at Nos. 16 and 17 and one more on his inward nine at the sixth. He drained an uphill 8-foot par putt at his last hole of the day to grab a one-stroke lead over five golfers.
Morikawa has won five times on the PGA Tour, including a pair of majors, at the precocious age of 26. But he’s also winless since the 2021 British Open and is anxious to get back into the winner’s circle. He blew a six-stroke 54-hole lead at the Sentry Championship in January and nearly won the Rocket Mortgage Classic in July, losing in a playoff to Rickie Fowler. In the last two seasons, he’s recorded 14 top-10 finishes, tied with Tommy Fleetwood for the most during that span without a win. Morikawa is making his first start during the FedEx Cup Fall and competing for the first time since the Ryder Cup.
“Taking a few weeks off, you never know what you’re going to get, but I’ve been kind of working on a few things trying to get control of the golf ball, spent a lot of time putting yesterday,” Morikawa said. “It’s nice to kind of see the work I’ve put in, just kind of recreate that on the golf course.”
Here are four more things to know from the first round of the Zozo Championship.
The name game
Seeing the name Mikumu Horikawa on the leaderboard alongside Collin Morikawa had to be confusing for fans. It even threw Horikawa for a loop.
“When he looked at the leaderboard, first he thought he’s in first because the name is very like similar, Morikawa and Horikawa,” an interpreter for Horikawa explained. “So oh, that’s not me. He was like, ‘Oh, I want to catch up with him.’ ”
The 30-year-old Horikawa nearly did. He made birdie on two of the first three holes and six in all en route to posting 5-under 65.
Horikawa, who is ranked 267th in the world, is a regular on the Japan Golf Tour and won the Mynavi ABC Championship nearly a year ago and finished T-3 last week at the Japan Open. Asked if he’s famous, his interpreter said, “He said not really, but he wants to become popular after (winning this week).”
Eric Cole still burning
Eric Cole has been a birdie machine during his rookie campaign. The 35-year-old Cole entered the week having made a Tour record 517 birdies this season in 35 starts and tacked on another half dozen en route to posting 5-under 65 on Thursday.
Cole rolled in five of the birdies in his first 10 holes and then traded a bogey at No. 4, his 13th hole of the day, with a final birdie at No. 6, his 15th hole. It marked his 16th consecutive round of par or better on Tour dating back to the second round of the BMW Championship.
“The ball-striking’s been good, pretty consistent like day to day, so not a lot of crazy shots or anything like that. It’s been solid. Then the putter’s been good the last, you know, few rounds, so that’s been nice,” he said.
Cole switched back to an old putter on Sunday in Las Vegas and shot a sizzling final-round 9-under 62 to finish T-3 at the Shriners Children’s Open, his fifth top-10 of the season. (He also finished fourth at the Fortinet Championship, the first tournament of the FedEx Cup Fall.) Cole keeps adding to his resume for Tour Rookie of the Year. He’s also climbed to No. 53 in the world and the top 50 at the end of the year traditionally receive a Masters invite. So, while Cole already has locked up his card for next season and berths in the signature events, he still has a lot to play for during the FedEx Cup Fall and he keeps rolling along.
Five alive (including Nicolai Hojgaard)
In all there are five golfers that shot 5-under 65 on Thursday, including Nicolai Hojgaard.
The 22-year-old Dane, who represented Team Europe in the Ryder Cup, is trying to secure his PGA Tour card for 2024. He has Special Temporary Member status, which allows him to accept unlimited sponsor exemptions throughout the end of FedEx Cup Fall. Hojgaard finished T-56 last week in Las Vegas and should help his cause at this week’s no-cut event. He needs to earn more non-member FedEx Cup points than the 125thfinisher in the standings by the end of the RSM Classic to earn full Tour membership for next season. He’s off to a solid start to making that happen in Japan thanks to birdies on two of his final three holes. Tied for second marks his highest position after the first round in his 21 career starts on Tour.
“I was grinding hard out there today to put a score together,” he said. “Rolled the putter nicely, so kept me going.”
Argentina’s Emiliano Grillo, who won earlier this year at the Charles Schwab Challenge, had a share of the lead and a bogey-free round going until he took three putts at the last to finish with bogey. But having missed the cut in his two previous FedEx Cup Fall events, Grillo was pleased with his start. He finished fourth at the Zozo last year.
Robby Shelton, 28, entered the week at 93rd in the FedEx Fall, and a round of 65 was just what the doctor ordered. Shelton said his game’s been “trending in the right direction,” but he had missed two straight cuts and had the weekend off at six of seven and nine of his last 11 starts.
“I hit a few greens early and the putts fell,” said Shelton, who is seeking his first Tour title. “I’ve been trending in the right direction, hadn’t been playing great, but it feels a lot better. Kind of figured some things out this week. Just got to keep my head on straight.”
Rickie Fowler, Scottie Scheffler and Hideki Matsuyama start slowly
Three of the fan favorites have some catching up to do after getting off to sluggish starts in the opening round.
Matsuyama, who is making his first start since withdrawing from the BMW Championship with a back injury in August, was 2-over through 12 holes until he made an eagle at 14 and a birdie at 18 to squeak into red figures with a 69. Matsuyama is a past champion of this event, winning in 2021.
Scott made two birdies and two bogeys and posted an even-par 70.
Fowler, a runner-up in Japan a year ago, didn’t make a birdie until 16 and shot 1-over 71, which included this flop shot for the ages at 18.
Wow 🤯
A 𝙧𝙞𝙙𝙞𝙘𝙪𝙡𝙤𝙪𝙨 shot over the trees by @RickieFowler. pic.twitter.com/koHxK4Y46N
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) October 19, 2023
