Morikawa rising as Oosthuizen sets mark
SANDWICH, England — The scoreboard carrier on Friday looked even younger than Collin Morikawa, but the pace of changing numbers was getting to him.
“So many birdies,” the carrier said on the 14th green as he switched out yet another red numeral on his portable board. “I’m losing track.”
There would be seven birdies in all for Morikawa in the second round of this British Open on his way to a 6underpar 64, one short of the course record at venerable Royal St. George’s.
“I just want to create my own memories,” said Morikawa, 24. “I’m awful with golf history, unfortunately. I did not know 63 was the low here. I just kind of came out and played golf.”
Heading into the final two rounds this weekend, the Cal alum is at 9under and in prime position, sandwiched, so to speak, between two past British Open champions: Louis Oosthuizen at 11under and Jordan Spieth at 8under.
Oosthuizen made an eagle on 14 and finished with a 65. His tworound total of 129 was the lowest 36hole total in the history of the British Open, which dates to 1860.
Morikawa has already proved that he is a newcomer to be reckoned with. Last year, he won the PGA Championship at Harding Park.
This week’s surge is coming 5,400 miles away, on a classic links course that is also distant in spirit from the parkland layouts where Morikawa has played most of his golf.
“You can’t underestimate Collin, even if it’s his first British Open,” Walter Chun, his coach at Cal, said from the Bay Area. “I’m sure he’s done a lot of research prior to his trip overseas. I’m sure he’s worked on certain things while at home. He’s very smart. His intellect matches the talent he has for ballstriking, and I can tell you that he went to the Scottish Open for a reason.”
That trip to Scotland was last week, and although Morikawa finished tied for 71st at the Renaissance Club, it allowed him to test out his game before the main event in Sandwich.
Morikawa made two significant changes after the Scottish Open. He switched his 7, 8 and 9irons to improve his feel.
“Those are three crucial clubs that are some of my favorite clubs,” he said. “My 8iron is my favorite club in the bag, and when I wasn’t able to hit it last week; well I knew I had to try something different.”
This week, he has also resumed putting with a conventional grip on longer putts.
When he was struggling earlier this season, Morikawa consulted with Mark O’Meara, the 1998 British Open champion, and switched to a grip called “the saw,” which limits the influence of the right hand.
After the change, Morikawa won the Workday Championship, a World Golf Championship event in Bradenton, Fla. But he recognized that longrange putts at Royal St. George’s called for more grip strength because of the slower greens.
Morikawa’s iron play remains the strength of his game, and his brilliant approach shots often left him with short birdie putts Friday. But he also scrambled effectively, salvaging par after hitting into a fairway bunker on the par4 13th and making birdie on the par5 14th despite hitting his tee shot into deep rough left of the fairway.
“Out here in links golf, you’re going to hit bad shots,” Morikawa said. “To see the par save on 13, I’m really going to draw on that for the rest of the week, because sometimes you have to just bite your tongue, play safe, and try and make par best you can.”