A month after missing out on a third major title in the Masters, Collin Morikawa set a challenging 36-hole clubhouse target at the 106th US PGA Championship.
Morikawa added a second round of 65 to his opening 66 at Valhalla for a halfway total of 11 under par, just one shot outside the championship scoring record set by Brooks Koepka in 2019.
World number one Scottie Scheffler, Mark Hubbard and Belgium’s Thomas Detry were all on nine under, Scheffler amazingly returning a 66 hours after being arrested – and subsequently released from police custody – following a traffic incident outside the course.
Morikawa and Scheffler made up the last group in the final round at Augusta National in April, with Scheffler cruising to his second green jacket as Morikawa faded to a tie for third after a 74.
“I know I still have it in me,” said Morikawa, who won both the 2020 US PGA and 2021 Open Championship on his tournament debut.
“It sucked to finish like that at Augusta and it sucked to lose to Scottie, but what’s exciting is that, at the end of the day, I knew I had three more majors coming up and to prep for that and get things as sharp as possible and just come out strong.
“It’s obviously nice to get off to this start.”
Starting from the 10th, Morikawa birdied the 13th and 18th to reach the turn in 34 before making five consecutive birdies from the fourth.
“The little five-birdie run was me just playing solid golf and sometimes when the putts drop, that’s what happened,” he added.
“But for the most part, that’s the kind of golf I’m going to ask for myself over the next two days and 36 holes, to just stay present, hit your shots, execute them and, if the putts drop, the putts drop.”
Detry’s flawless 67 included two birdies and an eagle on the par-five 18th which made up for a missed opportunity on the previous hole.
“It was probably the perfect wind out there on 18, straight downwind,” Detry said.
“Didn’t really have to worry about the bunker or the water right. Everything was pretty straightforward. Hit a great drive and we had the perfect yardage.
“I hit a straight shot, pushed it a little bit. It probably went four or five paces further right than I wanted to, but perfect yardage and hit a really good putt. Read it well with my caddie.
“We missed a short one on 17 and I feel like that was a bit of redemption on that hole.”
