Collin Morikawa He couldn’t make any mistakes on Saturday, which is why he recorded one of his best rounds in the championship.
Morikawa’s bogey-free 4-under 66 was a round where “everything went right” for the two-time major champion, but most importantly, he improved from 4-over to par, improving his chances of a come-from-behind victory on the second hole at Pinehurst on Sunday.
“I tried to compete on an even footing,” Morikawa said after the third round of the U.S. Open.
“I can’t be very proactive here, but I’m very happy.”
Morikawa didn’t miss a putt inside 10 feet on Saturday, which was a big reason he didn’t lose a stroke all day. Instead, he had four birdies, three of them on the back nine, his first of the day coming right on the opening hole.
“It was up and down and I made a lot of putts off the tee. I just made the putts I needed,” Morikawa explained.
“[On Friday]”I think I just missed everything I could have made. Day one was a bit of both. So it was good to see the putt go in. Hopefully I can just keep building on it.” [Sunday]. “
The former California Golden Bear took the lead by a wide margin on Saturday, winning by about five strokes with the putter.
“It just allowed me to accomplish everything I’ve been working on,” Morikawa said of his putting.
“It was fun to see that first goal get scored and then build on it from there.”
His first birdie came from 10 feet, a distance he needed to get some momentum going early in the round, and then he putted for par from 11 feet on the second hole, but it also fell off. He ended up saving two more pars on the fourth and sixth holes to keep his scorecard clean early on.
“My 4-under could have easily been the other way around,” Morikawa said.
“When you play really smart golf here, it’s not that challenging, but you’ve got to make the putts in the right spots and use that to your advantage when you do that. I made the putts I needed to make, I got up and down well, basically everything went well. That’s the only way you’re going to score well here.”
Morikawa will be rested for the final round on Sunday, starting at a much later time than 10:39 a.m. Of course, Morikawa was nine strokes behind when he began his third round at 10:39 a.m. But he left the golf course five strokes behind 36-hole leader Ludvig Oberg after shooting an astounding 66. Given the difficulty of Pinehurst’s second hole, Morikawa could be even closer to the lead by the end of the day.
Jack Mirko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation Playing Through. Follow For more golf articles, follow us on Twitter Jack Mirko In the same way.
