The 150th Open: Collin Morikawa Shoots Even Par in Opening Round at St. Andrews

Fellow Cal alum Max Homa finishes Day 1 at plus-1 and tied for 77th place.

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Collin Morikawa, who took the course to begin defense of his title at The Open just before 2 a.m. PDT, completed his first round Thursday with an even-par 72, eight strokes off the pace.

American Cameron Young, making his debut in The Open, is the leader with a bogey-free 8-under 64 — just the second player ever to shoot 8 under in the first round at St. Andrews.

Morikawa, 25, assembled four birdies and four bogeys in an up-down round at the Old Course at St. Andrews, Scotland. He finished his round with a birdie on No. 18, and is part of a 22-way tie for 55th place

It’s been a challenging season so far for Morikawa, who hasn’t won a tournament since prevailing at Royal St. George’s last summer. After missing the cut at the Genesis Scottish Open last week, his world ranking slipped from No. 4 to 8.

He didn’t putt well on Thursday and told reporters he knew the day would be challenging because of pace of play was unusually slow.

"Xander and I talked about it. We're watching more golf than we ever have," said Morikawa, alluding to the fact that neither watches the game much on TV. "You stay in the fairway and you're watching two other groups play golf."

Max Homa watches his tee shot on the 18th at St. Andrews / Photo by Michael Madrid, USA Today

Meanwhile, fellow Cal grad Max Homa teed off hours later and was just getting started when Morikawa finished. Homa, 31, finished at 1-over 73, although he managed a birdie on the 18th.

Homa is part of a 24-player logjam for 77th place.

Afterward, he told reporters the chance to play in the same group with Tiger Woods made it “the coolest fricking day I’ve ever had a on golf course.”

"He's the GOAT for a reason," Homa said. "He was very, very nice. It was a really fun day. It was a dream-come-true-type day minus some of the golf. It really felt like fantasy."

Homa is enjoying the best season his career, twice a winner on the PGA tour and up to No. 19 in the world rankings, his best ever.

Max Homa, center, relished in his time with Tiger Woods / Photo by Michael Madrid, USA Today

Woods had a rough day, and it went sideways from the start. He was 6 over after seven holes, thanks to two bogeys and two double bogeys, and finished at 6-over 78. Woods is tied for 146th place and is 14 strokes off the lead.

Woods — who has never failed to make the cut at St. Andrews, where he won in 2000 and 2005 — shot his second-worst score ever at The Open. This is just his third official tournament of the year 17 months after being seriously injured in a car accident in Los Angeles, and he was faced with the stronger afternoon winds.

"Looks like I'm going to have to shoot 66 tomorrow to have a chance,'' Woods said. "So obviously it has been done. Guys did it today. And my responsibility tomorrow is to go ahead and do it.''

Young, 25, is ranked No. 32 in the world and seeking his first professional win, although he has five top-10 finishes this season.

"I don't think that I played a perfect round of golf," Young said. "I scored really well. And I think we thought our way around the way you have to out there."

Rory McIlroy, who won The Open back in 2014 and was Masters champion this season, was two strokes back at 66.

Players in the morning session, including Young and McIlroy, faced less wind that golfers experienced in the afternoon.

"It's the fiddliest Open that I've played. It's the only way I can really describe it," McIlroy said. "OK, the 18th at Carnoustie was like a runway, that fairway. But around the greens here and just all the slopes and undulations and everything, I think as the tournament progresses, you're going to get some funny bounces and it's going to test your patience at times."

Cameron Smith hoping to become the first Australian in 29 years to win The Open, and England’s Robert Dinwiddie, each shot 67 to share third place.

Many of the world’s elite players performed well Thursday. Victor Hovland, Dustin Johnson and Scottie Scheffler all shot shot a 4-under 68 while Bryson DeChambeau and Xander Schauffele carded 69s.

Cover photo of Collin Morikawa by Michael Madrid, USA Today

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