Collin Morikawa Starts Fast, Fades to 36th at AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am

The Cal grad was at 6 under before three straight bogeys dropped him out of the lead
Collin Morikawa
Collin Morikawa / Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

After making birdies on six of his first 11 holes to share the early first-round lead at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Collin Morikawa gave most of it back.

The 27-year-old Cal grad strung together three consecutive bogeys and finished Thursday with with a 3-under 69 at Spyglass Hill, leaving him in a 16-way tie for 36th place, five strokes off the lead.

Morikawa had a better day than either of the other two former Golden Bears in the field.

Max Homa, 34, sprinkled three birdies and two bogeys in his round for a 1-under 71. Homa is seven strokes off the lead and part off an eight-way tie for 61st place.

Byeong Hu An spent most of his round trying to recover from a double-bogey 6 on the second hole. An also wound up at 1-under 71 and tied for 61st. The 33-year-old South Korean birdied two of the final four holes and resides seven strokes behind first-round leader Russell Henley.

Morikawa, playing the AT&T for just the second time, began his round on the back nine and had birdies on 11, 12, 15 and 17 before making the turn. After birdies on 1 and 2, he was at minus-6 and at the top of the leaderboard.

But he followed that immediately with bogeys on 3, 4 and 5 before closing his round with pars on the final four holes.

Morikawa tees off on the first hole in the second round Friday at 9:40 a.m.

Henley, a 35-year-old American, had nine birdies and just one bogey to fashion his 8-under round of 64 that left him alone at the top of the field.

Six golfers, including Justin Rose, Viktor Hovland and Sepp Straka, share second place at 7 under after firing 65s. 

Rory McIlroy, the world’s third-ranked player, swished a hole-in-one, knocking his 119-yard tee shot directly into the cup on the par-3 15th hole. It was just the second ace of his PGA Tour career. McIlroy is tied for eighth place after a 6-under 66.

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler is tied for 15th after a first-round 67.


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Jeff Faraudo
JEFF FARAUDO

Jeff Faraudo was a sports writer for Bay Area daily newspapers since he was 17 years old, and was the Oakland Tribune's Cal beat writer for 24 years. He covered eight Final Fours, four NBA Finals and four Summer Olympics.