WATCH: Collin Morikawa falls after losing his balance while making an escape shot at ZOZO Championship
Collin Morikawa lost his balance while taking a shot during the Zozo Championship. The American golfer pulled off a good shot, but after hitting the ball with his club, he lost balance and fell.
Morikawa teed it up at this week's Zozo Championship, underway in Japan. The tournament started with its first round on Thursday, October 24, and during the opening round, the defending champion of the event had some bad luck.
The PGA Tour uploaded a video of the golfer on its X account. While playing on the final hole of the first round, he hit a shot trying to escape the bunker, which he successfully did. However, while taking the shot, he lost his balance and fell.
Check out the clip below:
On the par-5, 18th hole, Collin Morikawa hit his first shot, which traveled around 269 yards. He then made another shot of 151 yards, followed by a third one of 125 yards. He managed to make a par on the hole, despite falling while taking the shot.
The first round of the 2024 Zozo Championship is completed, and following that, Taylor Moore took the lead in the game at 7-under. He shot a 63 to finish one stroke ahead of Max Greyserman, Nico Echavarria, and Eric Cole.
"I've got one more opportunity"- Collin Morikawa looks forward to defending his title at 2024 Zozo Championship
During the press conference, ahead of the 2024 Zozo Championship, Collin Morikawa reflected on last year's win in the tournament. He shared his thoughts on his performance from last season and also talked about defending his title this season. The American golfer said:
"Like, winning is tough, I mean, no matter what it is, winning is tough. You have to learn how to win, and it came, I wouldn't say easy, but it came in a few bunches early on in my career. So just being able to close that out on Sunday, knowing that, you know, I had a good first round, struggled a little bit in the second round, came through in the third round, and then ultimately played really, really well in the fourth round."
"A lot of things stick out... but just being able to win again and being, you know, on top of that leaderboard at the end of Sunday, I mean, that's everything to me. And that's like, you look back at a season, I look back at this season, I haven't won. I mean, I've had a solid year, but I haven't won. I've got one more opportunity at that," he added.
Collin Morikawa has played in 21 events this season with some good finishes. However, the American is still searching for his maiden win this season. He has two runner-up finishes and eight top-10s.
Last season, he won only one event on the PGA Tour, the Zozo Championship, and he is again seeking his first win of the 2024 season at the same tournament. After the first round of the Zozo Championship, Morikawa finished in a tie for 35th place at 1-under. The tournament will have its finale on Sunday, October 25.