Despite blustery conditions, Collin Morikawa blew through Waialae Country Club in relative comfort on Thursday.
Morikawa hadn’t played the course until his practice round on Tuesday, yet the California-raised 22-year-old felt quite at home in his Sony Open in Hawaii debut. Trips to Hawaii to visit family on Oahu were a frequent part of his upbringing and seeing many of those relatives outside the ropes gave Morikawa a sense of ease throughout his round Thursday morning.
Perhaps too much so at one point.
“I kind of caught myself midway through 12 holes where I got a little too easy, a little too relaxed, and I had to tell myself, ‘Come on, let’s finish this round and get a few more birdies in and get through,’ ” Morikawa said.
He heeded his own directive to play the remaining six holes at 3 under par and enters today’s play atop a wind-blown field at 5-under 65.
>> Photo Gallery: Wet and windy opening for 2020 Sony Open in Waialae
Playing in tighten-your-hat conditions for a second straight week in Hawaii, Morikawa turned in the lone bogey-free scorecard of the day to take a two-shot lead ahead of a pack of four players with more wind in the forecast today.
His round eclipsed those of playing partners Patrick Reed, who finished second to Justin Thomas in a playoff at the Sentry Tournament of Champions on Sunday, and Brandt Snedeker.
Reed and defending champion Matt Kuchar carved out rounds of 1-under 69 as part of a group of just 30 players out of 144 who ended their rounds in red numbers with 14 yet to finish.
Morikawa moved ahead on a day that had Waialae veterans ditching their old game plans with steady winds in the 30 mph range with gusts up to 40. The horn sounded at 6:10 p.m. suspending Thursday’s play due to darkness. The remaining players return to finish at 7:45 a.m. today before starting the second round.
Morikawa said he didn’t play much golf during his family trips to Hawaii — “because I wanted to do other things, swim in the ocean,” — but did play in the islands each year of his college career at California.
He arrived at Waialae for his first Sony Open appearance less than seven months removed from completing his run with the Bears as a four-time Ping All-American and ranked third in the nation. With a degree in business administration in hand, the 2018 Golfweek National Player of the Year went right to work as a pro. He picked up his first PGA Tour win at the Barracuda Championship in Reno, Nev., in late July, to earn a spot in the Sentry Tournament of Champions at Kapalua.
He endured strong winds on West Maui, where his paternal grandparents were originally from, to tie for seventh at 9 under in the winners-only event. His comfort in the wind carried over to Thursday, and although he found the fairway off the tee just seven times on a far tighter layout than the Plantation Course, he managed to keep himself out of trouble for most of the day.
“Just kind of scrambled really good,” Morikawa said. “The driver … wasn’t great, but didn’t put me in places that were awful. I still had shots wherever I was. The rough is up, so you just got to get lucky some places where you put it.”
He made the turn at 2 under, birdied the par-3 fourth hole with a 7-foot putt and followed with another birdie at No. 5 from inside 5 feet.
His final drive of the morning found the bunker to the right of the No. 9 fairway and his shot out of the sand caught the lip, landing just 80 yards ahead with 189 left to the pin.
“We were kind of in between clubs on the third shot and we were just like, we can’t miss long,” Morikawa said.
He hammered a 4-iron into the wind that came to rest inside of 7 feet from the hole and drained the birdie putt.
“I didn’t know where it was going to land. I thought it was going to be a little shorter than that, but those are the ones you got to take advantage,” said Morikawa, who tees off at 12:40 p.m. today again with Reed and Snedeker.
Tim Wilkinson and Sam Ryder made a run at Morikawa in the afternoon, both getting to 4 under at one point. Wilkinson shot 37 on his second nine to finish at 2 under. Ryder, who started at No. 10, made four consecutive birdies at Nos. 16, 17, 18 and 1, but also faded late with bogeys at Nos. 7 and 8. He nearly chipped in for eagle on No. 9 and rejoined the group at 3 under with a tap-in birdie to tie 2010 Sony champion Ryan Palmer, Matt Jones and Ted Potter Jr.
“I was able to get off to a pretty good start and stay patient,” Ryder said. “Got on a nice little run there and made four straight and gave a couple back.”
Thomas, coming off his 12th career victory, heads back out at 8 a.m. today at 2 over and tied for 63rd.
