Golf
Collin Morikawa Sizzles on Front Nine to Take One-Stroke Lead at ZOZO Championship
Mikumu Horikawa is one shot off the pace at the ZOZO Championship, while 2021 Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama struggled in his opening round.
INZAI, Chiba Prefecture ― Collin Morikawa carded a bogey-free 6-under 64 on Thursday, October 19 to grab a one-stroke lead after the opening round of the PGA Tour's ZOZO Championship.
Teeing off from the 10th hole at Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club, Morikawa got off to a sizzling start with five birdies on the front nine.
After briefly being tied with Japan Golf Tour regular Mikumu Horikawa, Morikawa retook the lead with a clutch 30-foot birdie putt on the par-5 sixth (his 15th hole of the day), his only birdie after the turn.
Bidding for his first PGA Tour victory and his second major title since The Open Championship, aka the British Open, in 2021, Morikawa saved par on his final hole with an eight-footer to preserve his slim lead.
After his round, Morikawa compared his red-hot front nine with his modest play after the turn.
"I missed a few fairways coming in," Morikawa said. "Out here, you just have to find the fairways and, with the greens being soft, you can play pretty aggressive. Other than that, I felt pretty comfortable with my game and was glad I could finish off with a nice little eight-footer for par."
Morikawa, whose family on his father's side is from Japan, won his first major at the PGA Championship in 2020.
Horikawa Among Quintet Trailing by One Stroke
Horikawa finished with a 5-under 65, tied for second with Robby Shelton, Eric Cole, Nicolai Hojgaard and Emiliano Grillo.
The 30-year-old Horikawa joked about the similarity in names of the two golfers who appeared at the top of the leaderboard for much of the day.
"When I first looked at the leaderboard, I thought it was me on top," Horikawa said. "So oh, that's not me so I want to catch him."
Matsuyama Cards a 1-Under 69
2021 Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama had a rough outing in his comeback from back injuries.
After making par on his first six holes, Matsuyama's first birdie of the day came on the par-6 No 7 when he sank an eight-foot birdie putt.
But his approach on the ninth hole found the bunker at the front of the green and he then two-putted for his first bogey.
He found the bunker again on the 10th hole and took his second bogey as his chances of moving up the leaderboard began to fade.
Matsuyama put himself in difficult positions all day and was saddled with another bogey on No 12.
The highlight of the day for Matsuyama came on the par-5 14th. His approach landed two feet from the hole and he tapped in for an eagle, which allowed him to finish at 1-under 69 and tied for 26th.
Matsuyama has a total of eight PGA Tour wins. He withdrew with a back injury from the BMW Championship in late August and has been out of action since.
Golfers Expect to Face Stronger Winds on Second Day
Conditions were good for the opening round but stronger winds are in the forecast for Friday.
"The greens are fairly small and there's a lot of slopes so if you put yourself in the wrong spots, you can have some tough up-and-downs," Morikawa said. "With a lot of wind, 20, 25 mph tomorrow, it's gonna be a question of can you control the golf ball. Par-5s are the ones where you are gonna have to make birdies."
Tokyo 2020 Olympic gold medalist Xander Schauffele shot a 3-under 67 that featured four birdies against a lone bogey to finish tied for eighth place with defending champion Keegan Bradley.
I'm happy with how I'm driving it, happy with how I'm rolling it," said Schauffele, who birdied every par-5. "Just need to tighten up some of the dispersion from the fairway. With the greens being soft, you feel like you can be really aggressive. Just need to clean that up."
Tiger Woods won the inaugural tournament in 2019 when Matsuyama was runner-up. In 2020, Patrick Cantlay took top honors when the tournament was played in California due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.
The tournament offers a purse of $8.5 million USD (¥1.27 billion JPY) with the winner taking home $1.5 million USD (¥224.5 million JPY) plus 500 FedEx Cup points.
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Author: Jim Armstrong
The author is a longtime journalist who has covered sports in Japan for over 25 years. You can find his articles on SportsLook.