Collin Morikawa of the United States plays his shot from the second tee during the third round of the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday at Muirfield Village Golf Club on June 08, 2024 in Dublin, Ohio. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
Morikawa was even par through 16 holes on Friday, but struggled up 17 and eventually made a double-bogey six at the par 4. After a par at the last, Morikawa signed for a 2-over 74.
However, the Cal product bounced back in a big way on Moving Day, making four birdies and no bogeys for a clean 4-under 68 to catapult up the leaderboard into a tie for second. Morikawa was 1 under after making the turn thanks to a two at the par-3 fourth (he parred both par 5s) but got things going on the back and added circles to his card on Nos. 12, 14 and 15.
After losing over half a stroke to the field with his approach play during the second round, Morikawa gained 1.374 shots on Saturday, good enough for seventh in the field.
“Yesterday it was blowing more, but I got impatient,” Morikawa said of the difference between his second and third rounds. “I was rushing a lot of shots towards the end and I was trying to time it up in such a small little window that instead of feeling the shot, I just used my head, and that’s never good for me. I have to feel it out and kind of trust my gut and really made sure I stayed patient with that today.”
Morikawa has won at Muirfield Village before, four years ago at the 2020 Workday Charity Open.
