Collin Morikawa Surges at Soggy PGA Championship

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Collin Morikawa took Valhalla to its knees Friday during the second round of the 106th PGA Championship — and for a time looked unstoppable on his way up the leaderboard.

The 2020 PGA Championship winner’s only blemish in a second round 6-under 65 was a chunked 8-iron on his last hole. Playing in almost-constant rain, Morikawa took advantage of the soft conditions to make seven birdies, including a stretch of five in a row from the fourth through eighth holes, on his second nine. His lone bogey of the day came after his second shot on the ninth, his final hole, landed just short and rolled down the false front.

Morikawa led into the afternoon at 11-under until first-round leader Xander Schauffele regained a one-stroke lead at 12-under with his second-round 68.

“Just kept it in front of myself,” Morikawa said of the round, his lowest since shooting 64 and winning the PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park. “I’ve been putting great so far since Augusta, so it’s nice to just kind of keep that trend going and was able to hit a few good close shots.”

• MORE: Complete Coverage of the 106th PGA Championship

Starting in November, the 27-year-old Morikawa made a change in swing coaches from Rick Sessinghaus to Mark Blackburn.

It was a switch from someone Morikawa had talked to almost every week for 18 years, about not only his game but life overall.

The change worked well early with a win at the ZOZO Championship at the end of November, but following a flat start to the 2024 season, Blackburn was dismissed two weeks before the Masters.

The T3 at the Masters after a disappointing 2-over 74 final round gave Morikawa trust in his swing and his game, and during the stretch from Augusta to Louisville, he has mended fences with his former coach, Sessinghaus.

“I know I still have it in me, and that’s what’s exciting is that, after Augusta, it sucked to finish like that, and it sucked to lose to Scottie, but at the end of the day, I knew I had three more majors coming up and to prep for that and get things as sharp as possible and just come out strong,” Morikawa said.

Oddly, the early range session before his Friday round was not promising, but near the end he found something and took it to the course. And after a while it clicked.

“You figure it out,” Morikawa said of his philosophy as he has matured as a player. “That’s what I’ve learned. You figure it out with what you have and play golf.”

With soft conditions on Friday afternoon, it is possible Morikawa won’t hold the lead through 36 holes. But his second-round performance put him in position, which is almost as good as having the lead.

“For the most part, that’s the kind of golf I’m going to ask for myself over the next two days and 36 holes is just stay present, hit your shots, execute them, and if the putts drop, the putts drop,” Morikawa said, reflecting on Friday’s round. “But really not force anything. I wasn’t forcing anything out there, especially throughout all of today.”

View the original article to see embedded media.

Related: Tiger Woods Starts Trending as Scottie Scheffler Deals With Pre-Round Arrest at PGA Championship

Related: Scottie Scheffler's Odds Of Winning The PGA Championship Actually Increased Friday Morning

Related: Scottie Scheffler Faces Charges of Assaulting Police Officer, Reckless Driving After Friday's Arrest