Collin Morikawa bests another Tiger Woods record to keep lead at the Tour Championship: All you need to know
Collin Morikawa carded an impressive 6-under 64 on Friday, August 25, at the Tour Championship. He is currently tied at the top with Viktor Hovland, holding a two-stroke lead after 36 holes.
Morikawa, who shot his career-best 61 in the opening round, now has an aggregate score of 125 after 36 holes and has broken Tiger Woods' 16-year-old record at the East Lake. Woods had shot 127 in the first two rounds of the 2007 Tour Championship, which he eventually won.
The two-time major champion was 24th in the FedEx Cup standings at the start of this week and teed off at 1-under, but his incredible form so far has put him in a very good position.
Speaking to the media, the 26-year-old golfer said that he felt so good about his game for the first time since 2021, the last time he won on the PGA Tour. He said:
"It felt pretty good. I like to think it felt good in certain places and the results don't show it. But, look, we were searching Tuesday afternoon. Ryan and I had a few putters out. I had a few things doing. Sometimes it takes that.
"I was going to treat Monday through Wednesday this week just as a kind of relaxing, get into it, game felt good enough to play well, and I went down this rabbit hole of just kind of -- I hit one bad shot in the practice round, tried to figure it out, was out on the range two more hours."
Morikawa is tied with Hovland, who shot 6-under 64 and is also aggregated at 16-under. While Morikawa started the East Lake week at 1-under, Hovland entered the week with an 8-stroke advantage. Until the 11th hole, the 25-year-old Norwegian was 1-under but then went on to sink five birdies in the remaining seven holes.
Scottie Scheffler, who didn't have an ideal start to the Tour Championship, was back on track on Friday as he shot a bogey-free 5 with the help of five birdies. He is sitting at 14-under, two strokes behind the lead.
Keegan Bradley slipped three spots after a 3-under 67 in the second round at East Lake. Xander Schauffele and Jon Rahm are placed at T5 after 36 holes. While Schauffele shot a 6-under 64, Rahm carded a 5-under 65 with the help of seven birdies and two bogeys.
Rory McIlroy, who is suffering from back issues, shot a better round of 3-under 67 but was unmoved in seventh place at 10-under.
When will Collin Morikawa tee off for the third round of the 2023 Tour Championship?
The five-time PGA Tour winner is paired with Viktor Hovland for the third round of the 2023 Tour Championship. The duo will tee off the third round on Saturday, August 26, at 3:00 pm ET.
The third round of the 2023 Tour Championship will begin on Saturday at 12:21 pm ET, with Emiliano Grillo and Taylor Moore being the first group to tee off.