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Aug. 25 (UPI) — Collin Morikawa’s remarkable performance in the first round of the 2023 Tour Championship has left reporters curious about the secret behind his fixed swing. He now shares the lead with Keegan Bradley and Viktor Hovland at 10-under, heading into the second round in Atlanta.
Morikawa’s 9-under was the highest score of the opening round at East Lake Golf Club on Thursday. Due to the FedEx Cup playoffs’ unique scoring system, where most players start below par, Morikawa finds himself in a three-way tie for first place.
“The goal is to maintain momentum and keep pushing,” said Morikawa to reporters. “If I could, I wish I could immediately play another 18 rounds, because that’s how good I felt [Thursday].”
“I know what I did, and I will strive to maintain those baselines and checkpoints, so that when we start out there [Friday], we can continue with the same impressive performance,” he added.
Morikawa began the tournament at 1-under and quickly birdied Nos. 1 and 5, then eagled 6 to shoot a 4-under 31 at the turn. He went on to sink five more birdies, including the last three on the back nine.
“I got a bit lucky on No. 5,” Morikawa said. “I hit a drive left that hit a tree, which ended up in the fairway and led to a birdie. Those are the momentum-building moments that have been missing for me this year. I’m focused on finding a way to sustain it.”
Morikawa revealed that he discovered the swing fix just this week while preparing for the playoff finale. However, he opted not to reveal the details of his adjustment.
“We found it on Tuesday, but I won’t divulge it,” Morikawa said. “It’s all about the setup, which you can analyze through photos and pictures. It mostly has to do with the basics of the setup. That’s where it always is for 99% of us. We’ve all played excellent golf, it’s already within us. It’s just a matter of remembering what worked better in the past.”
Bradley, who started at 3-under, put up an impressive display and finished 7-under for his first 18 holes. Hovland, who began at 8-under, shot a solid 2-under round on Thursday in Atlanta.
Tournament favorite Scottie Scheffler, who had a lead of 10-under at the start, struggled with a 1-over round and currently sits in fourth place at 9-under for the tournament.
Defending champion Rory McIlroy, who began at 7-under, shot an even par in the first round. He is tied for seventh place with Matt Fitzpatrick and Jon Rahm. Rahm, starting at 6-under, carded a 1-under 69.
“I’m feeling quite frustrated with my performance,” admitted Scheffler. “I had a decent start, but then I had a few 3-putts, which was really frustrating, and a poor swing on No. 15. … It’s somewhat of a blessing to have a bad day and still be in contention.”
The second round of the Tour Championship was scheduled to begin at 11:26 a.m. EDT on Friday at East Lake. Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton were set to tee off at 1:16 p.m. on No. 1, followed by McIlroy and Fitzpatrick 11 minutes later.
Scheffler and Hovland were scheduled to tee off at 1:49 p.m., while Morikawa and Bradley had the final tee time for the second round at 2 p.m.
Live TV coverage will air from 1 to 6 p.m. on NBC’s Golf Channel.
