Tour Championship co-leader Collin Morikawa tee times and pairings for Friday's Round 2 explored

Collin Morikawa made a significant 18-spot jump to the top in the Tour Championship after shooting a career-best 9-under 61 on Thursday, August 24th. He is tied with Viktor Hovland and Keegan Bradley at 10-under ahead of the second round.

Teeing off the first round at 1-under, the two-time major champion began the day with a birdie on the first hole and was 4-under on the front nine with the help of two birdies and an eagle. On the back nine, the 26-year-old American made five more birdies, three of which came on the final three holes of the day.

Morikawa's 61 is the best opening round in the history of the Tour Championship and is also the second-lowest round at East Lake, following Zach Johnson’s 60 in 2007.

Morikawa is grouped with Bradley for the second round of the Tour Championship. They will be the last duo to tee off on Friday, August 25th, as the pair will resume the second round at 2 pm ET.

Bradley, who started the round at 3-under, sank seven birdies in his first-round 63, including three consecutive ones on the 5th, 6th, and 7th holes. Hovland posted a 2-under 68 with the help of two birdies.

Hovland is paired with Scottie Scheffler for the second round at East Lake. The duo will tee off at 1:49 pm ET on Friday.

Scheffler didn't have an ideal start to the final event of the FedEx Cup 2023, as he ended up losing one stroke after shooting 1-over 71 on Thursday. His first round consisted of five birdies, three bogeys, and a double bogey.

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"You can look at it both ways" - Morikawa on the strokes-adjusted format of the 2023 Tour Championship

The five-time winner on the PGA Tour expressed that his goal was to shoot as low as he could to give him a chance at the 2023 Tour Championship.

For the uninitiated, the final event on the FedEx Cup Playoffs is played in a strokes-adjusted format, under which Morikawa teed off at 1-under, but a 9-under 61 on Thursday helped him make a huge leap in the leaderboard.

He said:

"You can look at it both ways. I've heard both sides of we like it, we don't like it. But at the end of the day, if you play really good golf for four rounds and you win the tournament without the strokes. You can't be too mad about yourself. You played some good golf and you beat 29 other guys and that's kind of the goal this week.

"That was the goal at the beginning of the week, but obviously where I sit now, it's to keep pushing and not let my foot off the gas. I mean, the way today felt I wish I could go play another 18 and just continue that."

The second round will resume on Friday at 11:26 pm, with Nick Taylor and Emiliano Grillo being the first pair to tee off, followed by Sungjae Im and Taylor Moore at 11:37 am ET.