However, just 22 holes later, the 26-year-old, whose paternal great-grandparents emigrated from Japan to Hawaii, was back to even-par for the event and reeling.
The World No. 20 opened his third round with a double bogey at the 1st and then added a bogey at the 4th.
But then he went on a tear over his final 13 holes, making eight birdies against just one bogey to vault back up the leaderboard, into solo 4th at the Zozo Championship.
“Thursday was kind of an easy day, it was just point and shoot and ball went where we wanted,” Morikawa said after his round. “Today it was a little bit back and forth, a little bit of ‘tweeners of those clubs. And sometimes those days don’t work out, but we were able to figure out the right numbers, figure out the right shots, and that was a nice shot to finally hit where I wanted and just kind of get that, everything starting from there.”
Morikawa is one of the few big stars to tee it up this week in Japan. He mentioned earlier in the week how his Japanese heritage would make this win a little more special for him, especially because he has not won since his second major victory at the 2021 Open Championship.
However, he’s not letting the moment distract him.
“My focus tomorrow is just to give myself a chance. I had to do that today,” Morikawa said. “It’s not going to change anything out there. I’m going to be three, four, possibly five shots behind heading into tomorrow, so we’re going to see what happens.”
Jack Hirsh is the Associate Equipment Editor at GOLF. A Pennsylvania native, Jack is a 2020 graduate of Penn State University, earning degrees in broadcast journalism and political science. He was captain of his high school golf team and recently returned to the program to serve as head coach. Jack also still *tries* to remain competitive in local amateurs. Before joining GOLF, Jack spent two years working at a TV station in Bend, Oregon, primarily as a Multimedia Journalist/reporter, but also producing, anchoring and even presenting the weather. He can be reached at jack.hirsh@golf.com.