INZAI, Japan — Collin Morikawa’s last PGA Tour victory came at the 2021 British Open, but his 6-under 64 after the first round on Thursday to lead the Zozo Championship means the American This suggests that the end of the mini-slump is in sight.
At Japan’s only PGA Tour event at Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club on the outskirts of Tokyo, five other players, including Miyu Horikawa and Americans Ben Shelton and Eric Cole, were within striking distance.
Morikawa has ties to Japan on his father’s side, but it is unclear who his distant relatives are in Japan. His mother’s roots are in Hong Kong.
“This tournament obviously means a little more to me,” he said. “But look, a win is a win and a win everywhere, you know. I’m going to do everything I can over the next three days and tonight to give myself the best opportunity to make that happen.”
Japanese player Horikawa joked that when he looked up at the leaderboard, he saw the word “kawa” at the top, but it was Morikawa, not Horikawa. The suffix or prefix “kawa” means river in Japanese and appears in many Japanese surnames and place names.
“So, that’s not me,” Horikawa said. “Oh, I want to catch up with him.”
Morikawa won the PGA Championship in 2020 and later won the British Open, rapidly gaining fame and becoming sought after overseas.
“It was great,” he said. “We were able to travel here and play golf and learn a little bit more and reconnect with the culture and basically my history.”
During his stay, Morikawa dined at Sukiyabashi Jiro, one of Tokyo’s most famous sushi restaurants, and said he may never recover from those memories.
“Oh, the sushi was so special that I don’t want to eat it anymore,” Morikawa said. “Chef Jiro actually made the sushi for us, which made it even more special.”
Zozo Field has many Japanese connections and many local players.
Xander Schauffele, who returned to the sport after 67 years of age, has maternal grandparents who live in Tokyo, and his mother, Ping Yi, has roots in Taiwan and grew up in Japan. His mother-in-law is also Japanese, and his wife is half-Japanese and grew up in Okinawa, an island in the south of Japan.
Rickie Fowler’s mother has Japanese roots, and her grandfather Yutaka Tanaka is also Japanese. Kurt Kitayama’s mother was born in Japan and his father Clifford is Japanese American.
Fowler and Kitayama each shot 71 on Thursday.
Schauffele’s parents also lived in Tokyo for a time. He said he was familiar with the language but not fluent.
“We need a lot of help,” he said. “The more time I spent here, the more I picked up the phrases. Whenever my parents didn’t want me to understand anything, they spoke in Japanese. It stayed with me throughout my life. It was all around.”