The story would always be made this week in Brooklyn, Massachusetts. That was inevitable. However, the Boston loyalists could not have imagined a better ranking at the beginning of the weekend of the US Open 2022. While defending champion John Ram and four-time main winner Rory McIlroy are firmly in the dispute, remaining only one blow from the lead, that’s the name at the top, which has the potential to create a truly amazing moment on Sunday.
That name belongs to Colin Morikawa, who shot a 4-under 66 on Friday to reach 5 less for the championship and command co-leader alongside Joel Damen. The 25-year-old Morikawa has apparently been on television for the past decade, but in fact the US Open this week marks only the 11th major championship appearance of his career.
In her previous 10 such starts, Morikawa has captured stunning stages, including winning her PGA Championship debut and another in her Open Championship debut last summer at the Royal St. George’s. A once-in-a-lifetime career start can be made even more memorable with a victory at The Country Club.
Three big wins in 11 starts would be unprecedented, given the depth of talent in the game of golf – for reference: Jordan Spit needed 19 outings to get his three – and the opportunity to win these big tournaments in three completely different settings will make all the more impressive feat. Make no mistake, though: Morikawa is in battle for the last 36 holes with names like McIlroy, Ram and world number one Scotty Scheffler, all at a distance.
Although this case will not be like his last two triumphs, as Morikawa has yet to have a 36-hole lead in his main career – add this to his list of achievements – and some may continue to doubt his placement or inexplicable his lack of confidence in his iron game, the story suggests that Morikawa will recover.
T1. Colin Morikawa and Joel Damen (-5): Last year Morikawa could not understand what grass is in Scotland. He continued to win the Open Championship. This year, he is unable to hit his patented fading with irons. Here, he is right in the mix for his third big title. Not only would he continue his incredible pace on the biggest stage of golf, but with a win, Morikawa would be a victory for the Masters, far from completing his career Grand Slam. Although the irons were good, not great, he left his mark on the greens. He had lost shots with his pater in every start of the Masters and so far this week at the Country Club he has received more than three shots with the flat stick.
T3. Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy, Aaron Wise, Hayden Buckley and Beau Hossler (-4): Rahm played with Morikawa for the first two days and was probably overshadowed by him. However, the defending champion is in an enviable position and has a fantastic chance to follow in the footsteps of Brooks Koepka, winning the US Opens in a row. It is no surprise that Ram is at the forefront of the field after the blows received after this, as he is the best in the world in this department with a significant difference; however, the improvement he showed around the green this week has the potential to push him to another major triumph.
T8. Scotty Scheffler, Nick Hardy, Matthew NeSmith, Patrick Rodgers and Brian Harman (-3): Transferring the momentum to his birdie-birdie final on Thursday, Scheffler certainly looked like world number one on Friday. Although he did not start without a problem, the Texan collected the best performance of the approach in his career in terms of acquired blows. Eventually, signing for 3-under 67, Scheffler will be in the conversation, which will be the last nine on Sunday, as long as his short game is able to reflect his main statistical result for the rest of the way. He currently ranks first in strokes gained approach, third in strokes from tee to green and sixth in strokes, and he is out of the top 80 both on and around the green.
T13. Sam Burns, Matt Fitzpatrick, Adam Hadwin and Bo Hosler (-2): Burns was one of three players to sign for 67 in the morning wave, and the next logical step in his career development was the weekend’s Grand Prix fight. He can check this out of the list, as he is firmly in the mix of this championship and should love his chances to move forward. A three-time winner of the PGA Tour this season, a win this week will take him along with his good friend Scheffler to the annual gathering. The LSU product hit only 15 fairways in the first two rounds, so it will probably need to be improved in this department to create more scoring opportunities.
T16. Xander Schaufele, Will Zalatoris, Davis Riley and four others (-1): His autobiography at the US Open is fantastic on paper, but it is the best opportunity to meet Schaufele. In his previous five places in the top 10, he has yet to really fight; however, with 36 holes left, he is only four strokes away. The names he will have to jump over are some of the biggest in the game, but if there has ever been a single case in which he could cast doubt on his reputation, it is this week.
T24. Brooks Koepka, Hideki Matsuyama, Brandon Matthews and four others (E): Really impressive rebound for the two-time US Open champion, as he now has 73-67 rounds under his belt. Koepka was his typical self with the media after his second round, as the chip on his shoulder somehow grew tenfold. Only four men have beaten him in his last four US Open appearances, and he has a lot of work to do if he doesn’t want to add significantly to that total. The improvement around the green would be huge, given that this is the only area of his game that has kept him through 36 holes.
T31. Justin Thomas, Dustin Johnson, Joaquin Neiman and six others (+1): I can only imagine how disappointed Thomas is after opening his second round with a double stopper and eventually signing for 2 over 72. In The Players Championship, The PGA Championship and now the US Open, the two-time grand winner, got the short end of the bar when it comes to weather bias in some of the biggest events of the season. He is only six shots ahead and given the firepower in his arsenal, he is still in this thing, although there is little room for error now.
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