KAPALUA, Hawaii — Collin Morikawa had to judge how his ball would come out of the first cut of rough on the 16th hole at Kapalua, and it was close to perfect, settling 20 inches away for a sure birdie in his terrific duel with Hideki Matsuyama.
Matsuyama was some 20 yards closer. He sent his lob wedge over the pin and used a combination of spin and slope for the shot to roll past Morikawa’s ball and stop 8 inches away.
It was like that all day Saturday at the Sentry.
Matsuyama had a personal best with 11 birdies in his bogey-free round of 62, setting the Plantation course record for 54 holes at 27-under 192.
All that got him was a one-shot lead over Morikawa, who matched his 62 and just about everything else Matsuyama did on another day of virtually no wind and ridiculously low scoring in the PGA Tour opener.
“Collin played well and I just kind of followed him, so good day,” said Matsuyama, a Japanese star of few words and plenty of birdies.
Morikawa played so well at the start that it wasn’t until the sixth hole that he hit a shot he didn’t like, a wedge to 25 feet and a birdie chance that rimmed around the cup. In 54 holes, he has missed only two greens.
“Today was really, really good. Couple shots out there a little squirrely, but for the most part the irons were center face, knew where they were going,” Morikawa said.
He briefly took the lead on the front nine by starting 5 under in five holes, including a 25-foot eagle putt on the fifth hole during a display of sublime shotmaking. Matsuyama caught him on the next hole and they were tight the rest of the way.
The low scoring was reminiscent of 2022, when Cameron Smith set the tournament record — and PGA Tour record to par — at 34-under 258. The conditions were abnormally calm that year, and this year hasn’t been much different.
There was barely any wind on the western edge of Maui, and the Plantation course was built for fierce wind out of any direction. This became target practice for the world’s best players, particularly on a course with the widest fairways on the PGA Tour.
Three years ago, Smith and Jon Rahm were tied for the lead five shots clear of everyone else. Matsuyama was one ahead of Morikawa. Thomas Detry was next at 22-under 197, one ahead of Sungjae Im, who also had a 62.
The average score was 67.49, another record since this tournament moved to Kapalua in 1999.
Detry had a 65 and wound up losing ground.
“I shot 8 under today, but didn’t really feel like I shot 8 under,” he said. “Other courses when you shoot 8 under you really fell like, ‘Oh, yeah, I played unreal golf here.’ I just felt like I played some really steady golf.”
Matsuyama and Morikawa kept piling up birdies and pulling away. What separated them was the reachable par-4 14th, where Matsuyama chipped to 3 feet for birdie and Morikawa drove into a bunker, blasted out to 10 feet and missed the birdie putt.
Such a high level of golf brought importance to every shot, and they were up to the task. Morikawa talked about being in the zone, and with another player at his side in the same place, it created quite the stripe show.
“It was a lot of fun,” Matsuyama said, “but I would like for him to take it easy tomorrow.”
Morikawa has worked on his swing during the offseason, and the bigger work might have been on his attitude. He wants to pour everything into every shot, every day, every tournament and see where it leads.
That makes Sunday a big test.
“You look back at the greats, they did that,” Morikawa said. “You look back at Tiger, he did that every single week. I think if I asked myself, ‘Did I do that the past six years, every time?’ Probably not, you know. But it’s hard. It’s hard to do that, but that’s what I’m going into this year is saying, ‘You know, I’ve got four days, let’s see what I can do.'”
Morikawa has had his chances at Kapalua. He had a six-shot lead two years ago until closing with a 72 and finishing behind Rahm, who had a 63.
He played in the final group three times at big events last year — one behind Scottie Scheffler at the Masters, tied with Xander Schauffele at the PGA Championship and four shots behind Scheffler at the Memorial.
Now he’s trying to track down Matsuyama, who is going for his third win in the past 10 months. That goes back to Morikawa’s focus, and it reminded him of when he first turned pro in 2019.
“I had seven opportunities for sponsor exemptions, didn’t know if I was going to get my card or not, and you’re going to put everything out there because you have that goal,” Morikawa said. “Well, I’m going to put everything out there tomorrow because I have the goal to win.”
