Collin Morikawa carded a 6-under-par 64 to take a one-stroke lead after the first round of the Zozo Championship on Thursday in Chiba, Japan.
Morikawa highlighted his bogey-free round with five birdies over his first eight holes. He resides one shot ahead of Robby Shelton, Mikumu Horikawa of Japan, PGA Tour rookie Eric Cole, Nicolai Hojgaard of Denmark and Emiliano Grillo of Argentina at the Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club.
“There’s obviously a little bit more meaning to this tournament for me,” said Morikawa, who has Japanese heritage on his father’s side.
“But look, a win’s a win. I’ll take a win anywhere, right. I’m doing everything I can the next three days and kind of tonight to make sure I give myself the best opportunity to do that.”
Morikawa recorded his third opening round of 64 or better this season. He is seeking his sixth career title and first since winning the 2021 Open Championship.
Shelton collected six birdies against one bogey to post his lowest first-round score on the PGA Tour since he shot a 63 at the 2022 Bermuda Championship. He missed the cut in nine of his last 11 starts on the tour.
“(I) just got off to a good start with the putter,” Shelton said. “I hit a few greens early and the putts fell. Kind of got me a little calmer out there and just kind of rode it. Played well on the back and had the birdie on 18 to finish it off.”
Zac Blair sits at 4-under, one shot ahead of a nine-man contingent that includes Xander Schauffele and defending champion Keegan Bradley.
“Birdied all the par 5s, which is always a good thing, and played them — was able to hit the green in two on two out of three. Pretty happy,” Schauffele said. “Got a little windy through certain parts of the round and I wasn’t able to hit sort — the times I hit the fairway, I wasn’t able to sort of capitalize on a good wedge shot, so probably going to go try and clean that up right now.”
Bradley, who birdied his final two holes on Thursday, broke out of a four-year winless slump when he captured last year’s Zozo title. He went on to win again during the summer at the Travelers Championship and rose to No. 16 in the Official World Golf Ranking.
Hideki Matsuyama of Japan went 3-under over his final five holes to finish at 1-under 69.
–Field Level Media