Collin Morikawa’s 64 puts him in tie for lead halfway through Trans-Miss

ANDOVER – One glance around the Trans-Mississippi Championship and many at Flint Hills National, at least a dozen college logos are sure to be spotted. Hats, shirts, shoes, towels, head covers — they are everywhere, and impossible to miss.

But there’s only one college logo on Collin Morikawa’s gear: a worn-out University of California head cover. That’s probably because hasn’t competed in college yet.

The 18-year-old, who finished high school a month ago, shot a 6-under-par 64 to put him in a three-way tie for the lead through two rounds. Morikawa had nine birdies and led by two strokes at one point after starting the day even at Flint Hills National Golf Club.

“I started off really well, 5 under through six (holes),” Morikawa said. “I was just hitting fairways and hitting really good shots. I made a couple nice putts and was able to make a lot of birdies out there today.”

Unlike a sluggish opening round Tuesday, when a combination of birdies and bogeys kept him at even. He got out unscathed, and still in the hunt when he teed off Wednesday.

“I knew the scores were going to be low out here today, looking at the morning scores,” said Morikawa, a top-20 high school recruit this year by Golfweek. “Pin locations got a little bit tougher, but conditions were very helpful, and a lot different than yesterday, so I had to take advantage of that.”

He consistently hit fairways, and made more putts than in his opening round. On No. 6 – his 15th hole of the day – Morikawa hit into in Flint Hills National’s long, thick native grasses, but found his ball after a five-man hunt. He chipped onto the fringe and eventually made par to put him in his best position of the day, 8 under.

But on his last two holes, his putting broke down a bit. Morikawa had a chance to expand his lead to three strokes on No. 8, but missed a 10-foot birdie putt. On No. 9, his final hole, he chipped from the rough to 8 feet.

He missed the putt, then the second putt lipped out for a double bogey. He sat tied with KK Limbhasut and John Flaherty — both shot second-round 65s — after starting the day three shots out from the lead.

“I made a great chip … just misread the putt,” Morikawa said of his final hole. “It was just a loss of focus. I wanted to get in, and that’s what happens out here. It can add up.”

Fifty-six golfers will play 36 holes Thursday to determine the champion.

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“I’ll try to wipe that off for tomorrow, and try to go into the 36 holes tomorrow thinking about all 36 holes that I played,” Morikawa said. “This course takes a lot of focus, and you’ve just got to stay up with every shot.”

KK Limbhasut, Berkeley, Calif.69-65–134

John Flaherty, Glastonbury, Conn.69-65–134

Collin Morikawa, La Canada Flintridge, Calif.70-64–134

Andrew Presley, Fort Worth70-65–135

Cheng Jin, China70-65–135

Andrew Presley, Fort Worth70-65–135

Philip Barbaree, Shreveport, La. 69-66–135

Ryan Burgess, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. 67-69–136

Sean Walsh, Keller 67-69–136

Otto Black, Pinckney 70-67–137

Cristobal Del Solar, Santiago 70-67–137

Zach Zaback, Farmington 72-65–137

Carr Vernon, Poplar Bluff, Mo. 70-67–137

Sam Johnston, Edmond, Mo. 69-69–138

Mike McCoy, Des Moines 70-68–138

Trevor Clayton, Clovis, Calif.69-69–138

Grady Brame, Hammond, La. 70-68–138

Sam Russell, Oklahoma City68-70–138

Nick Voke, Ames, Iowa71-67–138

Max McGreevy, Edmond, Okla.73-66–139

Andrew Ertel, The Woodlands, Texas71-68–139

Daniel Hudson, Western Springs, Ill.68-71–139

Kyle Weldon, Des Peres, Mo.72-67–139

Patrick Murphy, Canada72-67–139

Lawrence Allan, Hammond, La.70-69–139

Sam Horsfield, Davenport, Fla.71-68–139

Graham Brockington, Palo Alto, Calif.70-70–140

Byron Meth, San Diego75-65–140

Andrew Lister, College Station, Texas69-71–140

Vincent Martino, Southlake, Texas71-69–140

Rylee Reinertson, Gibbon, Neb. 75-65–140

Andre Garcia, Mansfield, Texas 72-68–140

Draegen Majors, Tulsa 70-70–140

Landon Lyons, Baton Rouge, La. 70-70–140

Mario Beltran, Miami71-69–140

Tyler Saunders, Canada 74-66–140

Derek Oland, McKinney, Texas 71-69–140

Stephen Summers, Dallas72-69–141

Chase Hanna, Leawood73-68–141

Grant Bennett, Lewisville, Texas70-71–141

Andrew Romano, Littleton, Colo.73-68–141

Austin Eoff, Benton, Ark.72-69–141

Juan Serrano, Knoxville, Tenn.72-69–141

Harrison Endycott, Australia74-67–141

Wilson Sundvold, Columbia, Mo.71-70–141

Henry Simpson, Mission Hills71-71–142

Kolton Crawford, Mansfield, Texas75-67–142

Blaine Hale, Dallas 75-67–142

Fernando Cruz Valle, Mexico70-72–142

Jonathan Hudson, Western Springs, Ill.72-70–142

Kiran Day, Australia76-66—142

Ryan Zech, Kearney, Mo. - 73-70–143

Nathan Weant, Hallsville, Texas 77-66–143

Andrew McCain, Minneapolis, Minn.74-69–143

Teddy Jones, Wildwood, Mo.71-72–143

Garrison Mendoza, Clinton, Okla. 72-71–143

Ben Doyle, La Jolla, Calif. 72-71–143

Stephen Griggs, Carmichael, Calif. 76-68–144

Colin Pearson, Fort Dodge, Iowa70-74–144

Alex Franklin, San Rafael, Calif.74-70–144

Conrad Walcher, Oklahoma City76-68–144

Nick Heinen, Edmond, Okla.71-73–144

Grant Houser, Holly Springs, N.C. 71-73–144

Michael Colgate, Kearney, Neb. 72-72–144

Sebastian Smith, Chile70-74–144

Danny Pizetoski, Pinehurst, N.C.74-70–144

Geoff Vartelas, Cromwell, Conn. 74-70–144

Dillon Woods, Jacksonville, Fla. 73-71–144

Maverick Antcliff, Augusta, Ga.73-71–144

Tayler Termeer, Austin 75-70–145

Will Zalatoris, Plano, Texas 75-70–145

Baxter Ward, Nacogdoches, Texas 75-70–145

Matthew Lowe, Farmingdale, N.Y. 74-71–145

Tony Gil, Canada74-71–145

Matthew Green, Lake Lotawana, Mo.74-71–145

Chris Wiatr, Woodbury, Conn. 74-71–145

Luis Fernando Barco, Peru 74-71–145

Sean Yu, Beaumont, Texas74-71–145

John Bearrie, Arlington, Texas76-69–145

Michael Cotton, Katy, Texas 70-75–145

Michael Brockington, Laguna Niguel, Calif. 72-74–146

Clancy Waugh, North Palm Beach, Fla. 73-73–146

Walker Huddy, Studio City, Calif. 74-72–146

Hayden Wood, Edmond, Okla. 72-74–146

Bryon Shumate, Fort Smith, Ark.74-72–146

Richard Donegan, Okeechobee, Fla. 79-67–146

Seth Smith, St. Louis72-74–146

Danny Guise, Greenwich, Conn.77-69–146

Connor Peck, Ankeny, Iowa77-69–146

Austin Bautista, Australia75-71–146

Robert Funk, Canyon Lake, Calif. 72-75–147

Ben Corfee, El Macero, Calif. 78-69–147

Preston Fleenor, Mission Hills 72-75–147

Ryan Grider, Lewisville, Texas 75-72–147

Jimmy Makloski, Pueblo, Colo. 78-69–147

Michael Tolladay, Fresno, Calif. 75-72–147

Brandon Smith, Frisco, Texas 75-72–147

Gustavo Morantes, Albuquerque76-71–147

Michael Pisciotta, Alpharetta, Ga.75-72–147

Steven Vail, Cedar City, Utah 73-74–147

Miguel Delgado, Novato, Calif.77-71–148

Joseph Abella, Plano, Texas 72-76–148

Anthony Marchesani, Oklahoma City 75-73–148

Luke Sheehan, Tomball, Texas 76-72–148

Andrew Garner, Paradise Valley, Ariz.76-72–148

Brandon Bauman, Las Vegas 75-73–148

Sarosh Adi, Plano, Texas 73-76–149

Alec Heinen, Edmond, Okla. 76-73–149

Connor Knabe, Leawood 77-72–149

Garrett Fey, Mesquite, Texas 80-69–149

Daniel Gale, Australia 75-74–149

Blake Cannon, Mesa, Ariz. 73-76–149

Matthew Walker, Ottumwa, Iowa 79-70–149

Trevor Ranton, Waterloo, Iowa 80-69–149

Alex Springer, Olathe 76-73–149

Connor Black, Humble, Texas78-72–150

Eamon Bradley, Hammond, La.77-73–150

Ryan Argotsinger, Lees Summit, Mo. 78-72–150

Andy Spencer, Prairie Village75-75–150

Lawrence Field, Tulsa76-75–151

Matthew Rachey, Waconia, Minn. 78-73–151

Camilo Aguado, Jacksonville, Fla. 78-73–151

Ryan Han, Hollister, Calif. 71-81–152

Dominic Kieffer, Byron, Colo.73-79–152

Chase Nicolai, Long Beach, Calif. 74-78–152

Justin Newby, Parker, Texas 76-76–152

Woody Woodward, Bridgeport, Conn. 76-76–152

Ryan Knop, Pleasanton, Calif. 81-71–152

Sam Migdal, Ballwin, Mo.76-76–152

Brent Brockermeyer, Los Angeles 75-78–153

Jacob Bishop, Edmond, Okla. 78-75–153

Brooks Price, Dallas74-79–153

Stephen Stallings, Louisville, Ky. 80-73–153

Alex Higgs, Overland Park75-78–153

Mike Holloway, Wichita 82-71–153

Andrew Paysse, Temple, Texas78-75–153

Gage Ihrig, Goodland 80-74–154

Jordan Cowart, Austin75-79–154

Keelan Kilpatrick, Berkeley, Calif.81-74–155

Ben Wolcott, Burns, Tenn. 82-74–156

Grant Smith, Johnston, Iowa83-73–156

Cole Nygren, San Luis Obispo, Calif. 85-77–162

Matt Van Zandt, Houston 87-76–163

Sam Stevens, Wichita WD

Peter Kyo Won Koo, TucsonWD

This story was originally published July 8, 2015 at 9:45 PM with the headline "Collin Morikawa’s 64 puts him in tie for lead halfway through Trans-Miss."