Wells Fargo: Collin Morikawa attacks “big boy” course to sit near the top

Collin Morikawa continues to show spurts of greatness on the golf course in 2024.

At the Wells Fargo Championship, the two-time major winner shot a 4-under 67 on Thursday to sit three shots off leader, Xander Schauffele.

Morikawa credited Quail Hollow for living up to the hype it gives off.

“It’s a big boy’s golf course,” Morikawa said. “It is very, very tough off the tee, even the fairways on the wider end of what we might see, but with the new greens, with the firm greens, you’ve got to hit your spots, and you’ve got to score with your mid to long irons, especially for a guy like me.”

He had to grind most of the day. Morikawa made just two birdies on the front nine and seven pars. While his approach game was the best part of his performance, he still averaged 1.77 putts on greens in regulation.

Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images

At the turn, he made a birdie on his 10th hole, the 1st, and gained a little momentum. He added two more birdies at the 5th and 7th before he bogeyed the 9th to finish his round.

“I don’t think I missed many iron shots left today, which was great. I hit them all where I wanted,” Morikawa said. “I can look at a lot of my iron shots, to be honest, and say OK, these were quality iron shots. If I did miss, they were all in the right spot, our distance was correct — I haven’t seen that for a while.”

It has been an up-and-down season for him. There have been great moments and times when things went wrong. At the Masters, he had a shot at winning his third major championship, but Morikawa’s greed cost him on Sunday.

He sits in a good spot after one round at a course that will challenge this stout field. Morikawa will have to continue to hit his long irons well if he wants to win at Quail Hollow this week.

Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, be sure to follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.