Rory McIlroy, Collin Morikawa take different paths at U.S. Open

BROOKLINE, Mass. – Rory McIlroy and Collin Morikawa started the 122nd U.S. Open on different tees.

In terms of form, they’ve been on different planets.

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McIlroy has been searing, Morikawa searching, but each had at least a share of the lead in the early going Thursday. McIlroy (67) stayed there, while Morikawa (69) fell back with a 2-over-par back nine.

“You'd take 67 around this golf course any day,” said McIlroy, who was playing four days after bagging his 21st PGA TOUR win at the RBC Canadian Open. “Even though I'm standing up here slightly frustrated that I bogeyed the last, it's a great start to the tournament.”

Although they’re close in the Official World Golf Ranking – McIlroy third, Morikawa seventh – and each is a PGA Championship winner, McIlroy twice, that’s where the similarities end. Because, to put it nicely, Morikawa has been cold. He missed the cut in his last start at the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday, but really he hasn’t done much for the last six weeks or so.

The problem: His usual left-to-right shot shape has gone missing.

Last week Morikawa chased his old game all around Las Vegas, where he lives, playing 27 holes a day in brutal heat. Finally, on Thursday, with his usual cut still MIA, he made an executive decision.

“I was still trying to figure out the cut,” he said. “I mean, it was there for, like, three holes, and then it would disappear for three. I hit a point Thursday afternoon where I said, this is stupid. Why try and fight it? I can still hit the golf ball. It's not like I'm not hitting it to where I want.”

He said he mostly got around The Country Club playing a two-yard draw Thursday.

“It's not the best ball-striking I've ever seen him have,” said playing partner Jon Rahm (69), “but he had a lot of up-and-downs today that were really impressive that kept the round going.”

McIlroy, fourth in the FedExCup, came to Boston with other concerns, namely the fact that he hasn’t won a major since 2014. He has four top-10 finishes in his last five starts, though, and two of them in majors – a runner-up at the Masters, his best-ever result at Augusta National, and a solo eighth at the PGA Championship at Southern Hills, where he also was the leader after 18 holes.

For him, this week is about continuing what he’s doing and simply letting success get in the way.

“I felt like I did most things well today,” McIlroy said at The Country Club. “I certainly putted well, and I hit the ball in the right spots, and I hit a lot of greens, gave myself plenty of chances.”

There was one out-of-character moment: When his ball got hung up in the gnarly grass on the edge of a bunker at the drivable par-4 fifth hole, and he hacked at it only to wind up in another bunker just a few yards closer to the green, he twice thrashed at the sand in a fit of pique.

Part of the frustration was because the fifth is a birdie hole, and now he was fighting for par. (Which he made, rolling in a long putt.) Part of it was because his group had suffered a long wait on the tee. Also, he’d already messed up the sand, so it was going to be no additional work for his caddie, Harry Diamond.

What’s more, McIlroy added, showing a bit of fire can remind the fans how much you want it.

“Almost to remind yourself sometimes how much it means to you, as well,” he said.

The margins, he added, can be microscopically fine at the U.S. Open no matter who you are.

“That's now two majors in a row that I've started well,” McIlroy said, alluding to his opening-round 65 at the PGA Championship last month, “and hopefully just keep going from here.”