Collin Morikawa looked strong Thursday at the Sentry Tournament in Kapalua, Maui. He shot an 8-under 65 with no bogeys and entered the clubhouse tied for first. Sahith Segala later took the sole lead with a score of 9 under par.
Morikawa will be making his fifth start in this tournament and will be looking to seal a deal after what happened at last year's tournament. He struggled on the final day and watched as Jon Rahm passed him for the trophy.
A glimpse of his best game The PGA Tour fall season was finally unveiled at ZOZO. He felt like he was back to his old self.
“I had the belief that I could do it, and I had the belief that I could play well, but I have to be able to put together four rounds properly,” Morikawa said. “Part of it is knowing where the golf ball is going to go. The statistics said my ball strike was fine. I didn't fall off the roof, but the failure could have been worse. is.”
After the 2023 season, Morikawa ranked 94th in scrambling, 138th in scrambling from the rough, and 117th in scrambling from the fringe. In short, he put himself in some bad positions.
However, he ranked 7th in GIR (Greens in Regulation), hitting 71%. Although most of his matches were strong, the two-time major champion had glaring weaknesses.
“If you know where you're going to fail, that's the most important thing,” he says. “The best players in the world, who are winning and competing week after week, know where they're going to take their chances. They probably could have hit a little bit more quality golf shots, but I'm not really sure where the ball goes.” I'm starting to learn what's going on. That's the biggest thing.”
He is learning more about adjusting on the fly and planning accordingly.
On Thursday, he had six birdies and an eagle on the par-5 ninth. He hit 17 of 18 greens Thursday, tied for the top in the field. He didn't miss much. Therefore, this newfound knowledge has not yet been tested.
Morikawa is looking for revenge in Hawaii, and his first round showed he's not messing around.
But he has a lot of friends near the top. He is part of a five-way tie with Viktor Hovland, Camilo Villegas, Sujae Im and Jason Day at Segala's shooting back.
Savannah Lee Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation's Playing Through.If you want to know more about golf, please follow us. @_PlayingThrough On all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirls and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.
