INZAI CITY, Japan — Collin Morikawa’s final PGA Tour victory was the Open Championship in 2021, however his 6-under 64 on Thursday to guide the Zozo Championship after the primary spherical suggests the tip of the American’s mini stoop is likely to be in sight.
Mikumu Horikawa and Individuals Robby Shelton and Eric Cole have been amongst 5 gamers only a shot again on the Accordia Golf Narashino Nation Membership on the outskirts of Tokyo, the one PGA Tour occasion in Japan.
Morikawa has Japanese ties on his father’s facet, although he is unclear who his distant kinfolk is likely to be in Japan. His mom’s roots are in Hong Kong.
“There’s clearly a bit of bit extra that means to this event for me,” he mentioned. “However look, a win’s a win, I will take a win anyplace, proper. I am doing all the pieces I can the subsequent three days and form of tonight to ensure I give myself the most effective alternative to try this.”
Japanese participant Horikawa joked about trying up on the leaderboard and seeing a “kawa” on high — however that was Morikawa, not Horikawa. The suffix or prefix “kawa” means river in Japanese and seems in lots of Japanese household names and place names.
“So oh, that is not me,” Horikawa mentioned. “Oh, I wish to meet up with him.”
Morikawa received the PGA Championship in 2020 and adopted it with the British Open, his fast fame placing him in demand overseas.
“It has been good,” he mentioned. “We have form of been capable of journey over right here and play golf to only study a bit of bit extra and form of reconnect with the tradition and basically my historical past.”
Morikawa took in one in every of Tokyo’s most well-known sushi eating places throughout his keep — Sukiyabashi Jiro — and he mentioned he might by no means recover from it.
“Man, I virtually do not wish to have sushi once more as a result of it was that particular,” Morikawa mentioned. “Chef Jiro was truly making the sushi for us, which made it even that rather more particular.”
The Zozo area is stacked with Japanese connections and plenty of native gamers.
Xander Schauffele, three again after a 67, has maternal grandparents dwelling in Tokyo and his mom, Ping Yi, has roots in Taiwan and grew up in Japan. His mother-in-law can be Japanese, and his spouse is half-Japanese and grew up on Japan’s southern island of Okinawa.
Rickie Fowler’s mom has Japanese roots and his grandfather, Yutaka Tanaka, is Japanese. Kurt Kitayama’s mom was born in Japan, and his father, Clifford, is Japanese-American.
Fowler and Kitayama every shot 71 on Thursday.
Schauffele’s dad and mom additionally lived for a time in Tokyo. He mentioned he is conversant in the language, however not fluent.
“I want lots of assist,” he mentioned. “The extra time I spend right here I choose up on phrases. At any time when my dad and mom did not need me to know something, they spoke in Japanese. It has been round me my entire life.”
