ST ANDREWS (Reuters) – Reigning champion Collin Morikawa described his first round at St Andrews as a blur after struggling with his putter in a level-par 72 at the Open on Thursday.
The 25-year-old Californian, who gave a masterclass in iron accuracy and clutch putting to win at Sandwich a year ago, never really got going as he fell off the early pace.
Four birdies were matched by four bogeys and he knows he will need a big improvement on Friday.
“Today was kind of just a blur. Today was just hit some good drives and hit a bad second shot, hit some good second shots, hit a bad putt. Never got any momentum going,” he said.
“The only momentum I had was 9 and 10, and after that, it was just kind of like scrambling for pars, trying to make five to ten-footers. That’s stressful golf.
“Out here you can’t make it stressful in a major championship when guys are making some birdies and taking advantage of those holes that are fairly gettable today.”
Asked if the greens had changed speed from the practice rounds, he added: “No. Just bad putting. Simply bad putting.”
Morikawa was eight shots behind clubhouse leader Cameron Young, blaming a poor day with the putter as organisers beefed up the Old Course with tough pin positions.
“I think I three-putted twice from the fringe or three-putted three times on the fringe at least,” Morikawa, who played with favourite Rory McIlroy, told reporters.
“You just can’t be giving yourself eight to ten feet for par out here when you’re just off the green.
“Sometimes you have those days, but it’s pretty frustrating when you felt like you had it and you don’t start seeing putts match up to what you see.”
With some shared greens, rounds at St Andrews can be long but Morikawa said he was surprised how slow play was.
“I figured it would be slow, but I didn’t know it would be this slow. We were waiting on groups at tees, waiting on fairways,” he said. “Xander and I talked about it, we’re watching more golf than we ever have. You stay in the fairway, and you’re watching two other groups play golf.
“That’s part of it this week of just staying patient and make sure you’re not rushing your shots.”
(Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by Toby Davis)
