Leaderboard: Rose leads Fort Worth Invitational

Collin Morikawa’s superb play over the opening two days of The 149th Open Championship has come after the American made some equipment adjustments heading into this week. The 24-year-old, who shot 67-64 in the opening two rounds at Royal St. George’s, swapped out three key irons before Thursday’s opening round. Morikawa switched from his TaylorMade P730 irons to the brand’s P7MC model in his 7-iron through 9-iron, a decision made after finding the P7MCs aided his turf interaction and provided a more centered ball strike, as well as a touch more forgiveness. “I changed my irons, my 9- through 7-iron that I normally have blades in. I changed to the MCs strictly because I couldn’t find the center of the face,” said Morikawa following his second round. “Those are three crucial clubs that are some of my favorite clubs. My 8-iron is my favorite club in the bag, and when I wasn’t able to hit it (well) last week well, I knew I had to try something different.” Last week’s Scottish Open was Morikawa’s first experience on the links. He finished T71. The Californian also added a new TaylorMade MG2 Hi-Toe (60 degree) wedge while also making a weight adjustment to his TP Juno putter. As is often the case on the slower greens across the pond, Morikawa was finding it difficult to get the ball to the hole at last week’s Scottish Open. To help his speed on the slow greens at Royal St. George’s, Morikawa decided to remove the two 2.5-gram weights and replace them with two 7.5-gram weights, providing him with 10 grams more weight in his putter. As well as the weight adjustment to his putter, Morikawa has even altered his stroke on certain putts this week. A proponent of the saw grip, Morikawa was struggling with his speed on lengthier putts on the links greens last week, so he is now putting with a conventional style on longer putts while using his saw grip for the shorter efforts. “It’s a feel thing, but it’s more I couldn’t get the tempo on the saw grip. I think the saw grip is amazing for me. But from outside 25, 30 feet, I just couldn’t get that hit. I couldn’t get that tempo that you see like a Brandt Snedeker puts on his putts,” said Morikawa. “That is something you need out here because the greens are slower than what we’re used to playing. “Just switching to conventional, I didn’t have to change anything mentally. I just kind of went at it like I normally felt, and kind of matched the speeds.” It’s a strategy that has worked wonders for Morikawa this week, who has looked dialled in on the greens as he goes in search of his second major victory.

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• COURSE: Royal Birkdale GC, 7,156 yards, par 70. Considered by many to be the fairest of Open Championship venues, Royal Birkdale dates back to 1889 but took its signature path between sand dunes in a 1922 overhaul by J.H. Taylor and Fred Hawtree. A 1940 Open debut was scuttled by World War II, finally getting its host opportunity in 1954. Peter Thomson won the first and last of his five Open crowns at Royal Birkdale, and Arnold Palmer’s 1961 triumph is considered a turning point in the Open’s fortunes. With subsequent wins by Lee Trevino (1971), Johnny Miller (1976) and Tom Watson (1983), five of Royal Birkdale’s eight Open champions are in the World Golf Hall of Fame. • FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 600 points. • CHARITY: The R&A contributes some $6.5 million annually to programs designed to enhance the game worldwide. Particular emphasis is given to junior golf programs, along with growth initiatives in emerging golfing nations. • FIELD WATCH: Dustin Johnson, FedExCup No. 1, has been absent from a tournament weekend since May, heads a roster expected to feature 73 of the top 75 on this week’s Official World Golf Ranking. … Newly crowned U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka, now 11th in the rankings, tees it up for the first time since his record-tying march at Erin Hills. … … Openings remain for the John Deere Classic’s highest top-5 finisher yet to qualify, plus the Scottish Open’s three highest top-10 finishers still without berths. … Among the 12 survivors of local qualifying is Ian Poulter, Europe’s Ryder Cup stalwart who sat out last season’s second half with foot woes and saw his world ranking fall out of Open favor. • 72-HOLE RECORD: 264, Henrik Stenson (2016 at Royal Troon). • 18-HOLE RECORD: 63, Mark Hayes (2nd round, 1977 at Turnberry), Isao Aoki (3rd round, 1980 at Muirfield), Greg Norman (2nd round, 1986 at Turnberry), Paul Broadhurst (3rd round, 1990 at St. Andrews), Jodie Mudd (4th round, 1991 at Royal Birkdale), Nick Faldo (2nd round, 1993 at Royal St. Georges), Payne Stewart (4th round, 1993 at Royal St. Georges), Rory McIlroy (1st round, 2010 at St. Andrews), Phil Mickelson (1st round, 2016 at Royal Troon), Henrik Stenson (4th round, 2016 at Royal Troon). • LAST YEAR: Henrik Stenson outlasted Phil Mickelson in an historic Sunday duel at Royal Troon, emerging three shots clear after posting just the second Sunday 63 to win a major championship. Stenson carded 10 birdies to join Johnny Miller (1973 U.S. Open) as the only major champions to shoot 63 on the final day, also setting a new 72-hole major standard at 20-under-par 264. Though Mickelson’s closing 65 was two shots better than anyone else on the course, he still lost two shots to the Swede. All told, the Stenson/Mickelson pairing notched 14 birdies and an eagle, and their best-ball score would have been 59. J.B. Holmes was a distant third – 11 shots behind Mickelson. • STORYLINES: Despite Johnson’s six victories in the past 13 months, his past two outings have produced missed cuts at the U.S. Open and Memorial Tournament. He hasn’t played the weekend at a major, in fact, since last year’s Open at Royal Troon. … Spain’s Jon Rahm, ranked 297th in the world as a newly minted pro a year ago, now stands No. 8 after a stirring six-shot romp at last week’s Irish Open. He owns seven top-5 finishes worldwide since January, including victory at the Farmers Insurance Open. … Jordan Spieth, who just missed a playoff at St. Andrews two years ago, also brings some momentum after his dramatic bunker-holeout win at Hartford. … Rory McIlroy in urgent quest for form, coming to Royal Birkdale off missed cuts at both the Irish Open and Scottish Open. … Stenson has been hot-and-cold since spring, missing four cuts in his past 10 starts worldwide. Three others, though, have resulted in top-10s. • SHORT CHIPS: In a nod to a weakened exchange rate after Britain’s vote to exit the European Union, this year’s prize money will be paid out in American dollars for the first time. The winner will receive $1.8 million from a total purse of $10.25 million. … Eight of the Open’s past 10 champions were age 35 or older. The exceptions: McIlroy in 2014 and Louis Oosthuizen in 2010. • TELEVISION: Thursday-Friday, 1:30 a.m.-4 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday, 4:30-7 a.m. (GC); 7 a.m.-3 p.m. (NBC). Sunday, 4-7 a.m. (GC); 7 a.m.-2 p.m. (NBC). • PGA TOUR LIVE: None. • RADIO: Thursday-Friday, 2 a.m.-3 p.m. ET; Saturday-Sunday, 4 a.m.-3 p.m. (SiriusXM).

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