Cal Golf: Collin Morikawa Is Nearly Flawless To Open the Sentry Tournament of Champs

He fires a bogey-free, 9-under round of 64, shares lead at Kapalua in Maui, Hawaii.

Collin Morikawa, coming off the first season of his professional golf career without a PGA tour victory, kicked off 2023 with a near-flawless round.

The 25-year-old Cal grad shot a bogey-free, 9-under par 64 on Thursday at the Sentry Tournament of Champions on the par-73 Plantation Course of the Kapalua Resort in Maui, Hawaii.

Morikawa carded his ninth birdie of the day on No. 18 to close out a a back nine in which he had seven birdies and posted a score of 30. His round included birdies on Nos. 4 and 5, then six in a row from the 10th hole to the 15th -- his longest streak ever on the PGA tour.

Morikawa, in hopes to improving his play, hired Stephen Sweeney as a putting coach and former player Parker McLachlin to help him work on his short game.

"I just have answers," Morikawa said. "Before when I was putting it was like it was guess work. I might have putted well today and then thought I was doing something, but in reality it was something else."

As good as he was, Morikawa finds himself sharing the lead with two players. American J.J. Spaun also played a bogey-free opening round for a 64 while Spain’s Jon Rahm, ranked No. 5 in the world, birdied three of the final four holes to pull even.

It was an impressive show of consistent, high-level golf for the world’s 11th-ranked player, who is seeking his first victory since capturing The Open at Royal St. George’s in England in July 2021.

Morikawa had a solid 2021-22 season, placing second twice and finishing fifth at both the Masters and the U.S. Open. But he could not pocket the sixth victory in a career that began after graduated from Cal in 2019.

Ten players are within two strokes of the lead. South Korea’s Tom Kim included a pair of eagles in his 8-under round of 65.

Six players, including Scottie Scheffler, are tied for fifth at 7-under 66.

Cal grad Max Homa, coming off his best season on the tour, is tied for 26th place at 3-under 70, six strokes back of the leaders. Homa had an eagle on the par-5 fifth hole along with three birdies and a pair of bogeys.

The Sentry TOC features a 39-player field composed of winners on the tour in 2022 and players ranked in the top-30 of the final FedEx Cup points list.

Cover photo of Collin Morikawa by Kyle Terada, USA Today

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


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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.