Collin Morikawa, in his first Tour start since finishing T6 at the Tour Championship, opened with a bogey-free, 6-under 64 featuring five birdies in his front nine for the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP lead .
“Taking a few weeks off, you never know what you’re going to get, but I’ve been kind of working on a few things trying to get control of the golf ball, spent a lot of time putting yesterday. It’s nice to kind of see the work I’ve put in, just kind of recreate that on the golf course. Obviously you never know how it’s going to be, but it was a fun round today.
“Some holes played a lot shorter with the wind direction and the firmer fairways, so you got like hole 11, I think I only had 8-iron in; in the practice rounds I was hitting 5-iron. Having a little bit more roll, tournament speed. It’s nice when certain holes that you consider to be essentially par holes, you’re able to give yourself a birdie opportunity really.”
The American has not won since the 2021 Open Championship but has finished runner-up twice this season at The Sentry and the Rocket Mortgage Classic.
PGA Tour Special Temporary Member Nicolai Højgaard of Denmark birdied two of his final three holes for a 65 to sit in a five-way tie for second place at 5-under.
Also tied in second place are American rookie Eric Cole who posted his sixteenth consecutive round of par or better on Tour, his compatriot Robby Shelton, Argentina’ Emiliano Grillo and Japan’s Mikumu Horikawa; one of four sponsor exemptions given to members of the Japan Golf Tour, where he owns four career victories and finished T3 at last week’s Japan Open.
