Cal Sports Report

Collin Morikawa Far Behind Despite Strong Opening Round

Former Cal golfer 10 shots behind FedEx Cup leader Scottie Scheffler, who has a big lead

Jake Curtis

Former Cal golfer Collin Morikawa had a strong first round at the Tour Championship on Thursday, but he still finds himself 10 strokes off the lead in the scoring format to determine the FedEx Cup winner and the $18 million first prize.

Morikawa fired a 4-under-par 66 at the East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, Georgia, but he started this week's tournament 21st in the FedEx Cup standings, which meant he started the day with a score of 1 under par.  So after his opening round of the Tour Championship he stands at 5-under in the FedEx Cup competition.

Scottie Scheffler led the FedEx Cup standings entering the Tour Championship so he began the day at 10-under, and after his 5-under-par round of 65 Thursday,  he is at 15-under for the FedEx Cup playoff.  That gives him a five-shot lead on the field, with Xander Schauffele second at 10-under after a round of 66 Thursday and Matt Fitzpatrick third at 9 under par after shooting a 6-under-par 64 in the opening round.

Max Homa, the other ex-Golden Bear in the 29-player field, fired a 1-over-par 71 in the opening round, and after starting the day at 2-under based on his 16th-place status in the Cup standings, he is at 1-under, 14 shots behind the leader and ahead of just two golfers in the field.

The tournament began with the top 30 players in the FedEx Cup standings qualifying for the Tour Championship. the third and final leg of the FedEx Cup playoff. Will Zalatoris was third in the standings, but had to withdraw earlier this week with a back injury, shrinking the field to 29 golfers.

Morikawa began the day indicating he might make a move on the leaders, getting birdies on three of his first eight holes.  That run included this elegant chip shot:

Morikawa then had a run of seven straight pars before suffering a bogey-5 on No. 16.  But he finished strong with birdies on the last two holes, leaving him tied for 14th place, three strokes out of fourth place and five strokes out of second.

But despite his strong round, Morikawa lost a stroke to Scheffler on the day.

Morikawa and Scheffler played a practice round together on Wednesday.

Morikawa is ranked eighth in the world, but is still looking for his first tournament win this seasons.

Homa has won twice this season and is ranked 22nd in in the world, but he struggled through most of his first round before finishing on a high note. He was at 3-over for his round before carding birdies on his final two holes. He has a lot of ground to make up to get to contender status and enters the second round ahead of just two golfers -- Sahith Theegala, who is at 1-over, and Corey Conners, who stands at 3-over.

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Cover photo of Collin Morikawa by Adam Hagy, USA TODAY Sports

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Jake Curtis
JAKE CURTIS

Jake Curtis worked in the San Francisco Chronicle sports department for 27 years, covering virtually every sport, including numerous Final Fours, several college football national championship games, an NBA Finals, world championship boxing matches and a World Cup. He was a Cal beat writer for many of those years, and won awards for his feature stories.

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