California's Collin Morikawa shoots a 3-under 69 in Safeway Open, Misses Cut by Two
Collin Morikawa
(California Athletics Photo)
NAPA, CA (October 15, 2016) -- What a back nine for
California sophomore Colin Morikawa. After falling to 3-
over following a 1-over front nine in the second round of
the Safeway Open at Silverado Resort and Spa
Morikawa turned things around in a big way.
Playing in his second career PGA Tour round, Morikawa
parred Nos. 10 and 11 before rolling in a birdie on the
12th to spark his late run. Birdies followed on No's. 15
and 16 to move the second-ranked player in the
AmateurGolf.com World Ranking back to even-par. After
a par on the 17th, Morikawa capped his round in style
with a closing hole birdie that brought his 36-hole tally
to 1-under. When all was said and done it was a bogey-
free 4-under 31 inward nine for the Cal star.
Unfortunately his heroic back-nine effort fell just two
shots out the cut-line which 3-under par.
In the first two rounds of the Safeway Open Morikawa
clearly enjoyed his time on the backside. For the two
days he was a combined 6-under with eight birdies and
a double-bogey. On the flip side the front nine was
played in 5-over.
The beginning of the second round was delayed due to
inclement weather and Morikawa's tee time was delayed
by nearly three hours. As a result the second round was
suspended due to darkness and the resumed at 7:45
a.m. Saturday morning. With the second round now in
the books the cut finished at 3-under.
ROUND ONE RECAP
On Thursday Collin
Morikawa more than held his own in his PGA Tour debut
at Safeway Open. The California sophomore carded a
solid 2-over 74 in his first round at Silverado Resort, a
round that included six birdies.
Beginning on the 10th hole, Morikawa bogeyed the 11th
hole before catching fire down the stretch of his opening
nine. Following a pair of pars that settled Morikawa
down, the second-ranked player in the
AmateurGolf.com World Rankings birdied four holes
from Nos. 14-18 to turn in 2-under 34.
Unfortunately things got a bit more difficult for
Morikawa on his second nine and he closed in 4-over
40. However, despite the struggles Morikawa was able
to card two birdies on the way in to salvage his round a
bit. The birdies came on the 5th and 9th holes.
Morikawa started his freshman year at Berkeley last fall
and quickly made a statement, shooting a course-record
62 at Lake Merced Golf Club to dominate the team's
first qualifier. He would go on to earn All-American
honors and the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year.
This past summer, Morikawa took home the
Sunnehanna Amateur with a final-round 62, made it to
the round of 16 in the U.S. Amateur, and nearly won
the Web.com Air Capital Classic after shooting back-to-
back rounds of 63 over the weekend and losing in a
playoff.
Morikawa is currently tied for 120th and will begin his
second round at Silverado Resort and Spa at 9:10 a.m.
PST paired alongside Kelly Kraft and Brandon Hagy.