Collin Morikawa hits his tee shot on Saturday on the 8th hole at Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club.
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Collin Morikawa was being told of a stat when he smiled. Sheepishly. He lowered his head.
“Sweet,” he said.
Of course, it wasn’t. That was sarcasm. The reporter was reminding him that he said he had hit just three fairways on Friday during the second round of the Zozo Championship, and during the third round, he had hit four. Add that to his start on Saturday — three-over after four holes — and things were ugly.
And yet, there Morikawa was, answering questions. They don’t interview dudes who are also-rans. Morikawa rebounded. He birdied 6, 7 and 8. After a bogey on 12, he birdied 13, 14, 15, 16 and 18. Entering the final round on Sunday, he’s only two back of leader Justin Suh.
Also sweet.
So what to make of it all?
Morikawa has a thought.
“Yeah, I haven’t had a round like that in a while,” he said. “I think it just shows that my head’s in the right space. When you’re three-over through four, all I was trying to do was get back to even-par through nine. Even-par at the end of the day, even if I shot even, I would have been pleased because out here you can get yourself in trouble pretty quickly.
“I’m very happy with how everything kind of came about, and obviously the nice little string of birdies was a nice momentum swing. The par putt on 17, the putt on 18, all these things are just kind of great little momentum things heading into tomorrow.”
With that, here is information on how to watch the final round.
How to watch the Zozo Championship on TV Saturday
Golf Channel will air the final round of the 2023 Zozo Championship on TV with a four-hour telecast starting at 11 p.m. ET Saturday.
How to stream the Zozo Championship online Saturday
You can stream the final round of the 2023 Zozo Championship on Saturday via Peacock. Peacock will provide a simulcast of Golf Channel’s Saturday TV coverage starting at 11 p.m. ET.
2023 Zozo Championship round 4 tee times (all times ET)
Nick Piastowski is a Senior Editor at Golf.com and Golf Magazine. In his role, he is responsible for editing, writing and developing stories across the golf space. And when he’s not writing about ways to hit the golf ball farther and straighter, the Milwaukee native is probably playing the game, hitting the ball left, right and short, and drinking a cold beer to wash away his score. You can reach out to him about any of these topics — his stories, his game or his beers — at nick.piastowski@golf.com.