Cal Golf: Collin Morikawa Warms Up, Shoots 65 at the Tour Championship
Making up five strokes on three holes that torpedoed him the day before, Collin Morikawa fired a five-under par 65 at the Tour Championship on Saturday to climb into a tie for fifth place.
At the halfway point of the tournament that settles the FedEx Cup season championship, Morikawa is at nine-under par overall, using the strokes-based scoring system that gave him a minus-5 score to start the tournament.
He is four strokes back of leader Dustin Johnson, who salvaged an even-par 70 with a birdie on the 18th hole. Johnson began the event at 10 under, based on his first-place status in the FedEx Cup standings and is at minus-13.
Morikawa, a 23-year-old Cal grad, posted six birdies and just one bogey in the second round, moving up from a tie for 14th place after Friday’s play.
Strong putting keyed Morikawa’s surge. He hit nine of 14 fairways and 10 of 18 greens in regulation and made every putt he attempted at 10 feet or closer.
He is tied with Tyrell Hatton and Jon Rahm, who carded a 74 on Saturday after shooting a 65 in the first round.
*** Sunday tee times: Morikawa and Hatton will be paired to start at 11:42 a.m. PST. Johnson and Sungjae Im will go off at 12:02 p.m.
Players will compete through Monday at the East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta in pursuit of the FedEx Cup first-prize check of $15 million. The full breakdown of the FedEx Cup payoff is below.
Morikawa, whose two wins on the tour this season include a victory at the PGA Championship last month, started strong Friday before shooting four-over through the final six holes to finish at 71.
He reversed those fortunes on Saturday. He made par on the 13th and 16th holes he bogeyed the day before and birdied the 17th, where he had carded a double bogey in the first round. Then he birdied the 18th to finish the back nine at 32.
Morikawa shot two-under on the front nine, with birdies on Nos. 5 and 9.
His only stumble all day was a bogey on the 11th, but he sandwiched that with birdies on Nos. 10 and 12.
Here’s what CBS Sports wrote about Morikawa’s round:
Morikawa shot one of the rounds of the day with a 65 before the leaders finished up. He played his way back into the tournament after a 1-over 71 on Friday. The difference? Well ... everything. Morikawa, somewhat incredibly, improved by almost a full stroke in every strokes-gained category with the biggest turnaround coming with his putter. He gained 4.3 more strokes on Saturday than he did on Friday with the flat stick. He's all the way back in it.
Johnson, who has struggled to hit fairways through two days, has a one-stroke leade over Sungjae Im of South Korean. Im’s second-round score of 64 included a 31 on the back nine.
Xander Schauffele is third at 11 under after posting a 65, and Justin Thomas sit alone in fourth place at 10 under.
*** Here is the complete FedEx Cup payoff for all 30 players at the Tour Championship:
1. $15 million
2. $5 million
3. $4 million
4. $3 million
5. $2.5 million
6. $1.9 million
7. $1.3 million
8. $1.1 million
9. $950,000
10, $830,000
11. $750,000
12. $705,00
13. $660,000
14. $620,000
15. $595,000
16. $570,000
17. $550,000
18. $535,000
19. $520,000
20. $505,000
21. $490,000
22. $478,000
23. $466,000
24. $456,000
25. $445,000
26. $425,000
27. $415,000
28. $415,000
29. $405,000
30. $395,000
.
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Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo
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