Cal Golf: Collin Morikawa Tied for Second Place at Hero World Challenge

Defending champ Viktor Hovland in lead; Cal's Max Homa 18th in 20-man field.

Collin Morikawa is tied for second place at the halfway point of the Hero World Challenge, just one stroke behind the man who beat him at this event a year ago.

Morikawa shot a second-round 1-under 71 on Friday at Albany in New Providence, Bahamas, and is tied with Cameron Young and Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele, all at minus-4.

Atop the 20-player field after two rounds is Viktor Hovland at 5 under.

Hovland pounced last year to win the title when Morikawa collapsed on the final day after shooting 18 under par through the first three rounds.

A 25-year-old Norwegian, Hovland was all over the map on Friday. He had four birdies, four bogeys and an eagle-3 on No. 6 on his way to a round of 70.

Morikawa, the 25-year-old Cal grad, made par through six holes Friday then birdied No. 7. He had bogeys on the next three holes but rallied with birdies on Nos. 11, 14 and 15.

Morikawa said he’s making a point to stay even-keeled when things aren’t going perfectly on the course.

“It’s huge, especially when I’m making three bogeys in a row from pretty basic spots,” said Morikawa, who needed 32 putts to get through Friday’s round. “The patience was tested. But overall, it was like, `I know what I’m working on, I know what I’m trying to figure out.’ If I can just focus in on the next hole hopefully we can do something better.

“That was kind of the key to today. Not doing anything different, just going back to the norm.”

Morikawa is using a new set of irons for the first time this week after working hand-in-hand with TaylorMade to develop something new.

“They’re amazing. TaylorMade was kind of enough to let me iron-test. I’ve never done that before,” he said. “It’s not like I changed a lot.

“Hopefully these changes I put into the irons will pay off in the long run. New clubs are always fun. Hopefully, they work for a long time.”

Scheffler and Schauffele each shot 68s on Friday and Young posted a 69.

Hovland told reporters he was surprised the scores weren’t better on Friday, despite windy conditions.

"It was tough," he said. "We are kind of grinding over every 3 or-4-four footer out there, and they certainly don't feel like gimmes. This wind just makes everything just a little bit harder, even those basic chip shots, they're not so basic anymore. I still would have expected the scores to be a little bit lower."

It was a rough day for Morikawa’s fellow Cal grad, Max Homa. He shot a 6-over 78 — the worst round of the day — that leaves him in 18th place and plus-5, 10 strokes off the lead. The 32-year-old had three birdies, but also five bogeys and two double-bogeys over the first 12 holes.

Cover photo of Collin Morikawa by Peter Casey, USA Today

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