Collin Morikawa makes comment on Kurt Kitayama after he shoots 63 on day two of the FedEx St Jude

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Collin Morikawa and Kurt Kitayama are two great friends on the PGA Tour circuit and both are in contention at the TPC Southwind.

Morikawa shot a fine round of 65 to get right into the mix for the lead at the FedEx St Jude, while Kitayama found some form of his own to shoot an even better round of 63.

Kitayama and Morikawa are well known for teaming up in the Zurich Classic and while they are fierce competitors on the course, they’re also great friends.

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With both players in contention now at TPC Southwind, we might well see them either in the same grouping or even going head to head for the win over the weekend.

However, for Morikawa, there’s only one thought on his mind when it comes to seeing Kitayama play well.

Collin Morikawa gives verdict on Kurt Kitayama at the FedEx St Jude

The TPC Southwind course has been playing quite nicely on day two and there are some excellent scores out there.

Kitayama and Morikawa are both beneficiaries of the conditions, and speaking about his good friend finding form, Morikawa was delighted to see it.

“Honestly, he’s been on this other schedule. I’ve been playing a lot of Signature Events, he hasn’t. I think I’ve only seen him at home once this year,” Morikawa said.

“I’m so happy for him. I think he’s just figured out how to hit his irons cleaner. Obviously he’s got to be putting well.

“But same thing, I think for a lot of us when you’re able to clean up a lot of your irons and say, man, I can just aim at the left centre of the green, hit it there, or right centre of the green, hit there, it just frees up a lot of people’s games and I don’t think people realize that as much. That’s how I kind of live, especially with my game.”

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Collin Morikawa says if he really believes he can win again

Collin Morikawa is approaching three years without a win on the PGA Tour and for someone so good, it’s simply unacceptable.

Nevertheless, he remains a top ten player in the world and Morikawa himself has admitted the self belief is still very much there.

“Well, even when I was overseas and not playing well, that self-belief that I can go out and win is always there. It’s just hard when you don’t know in your swing what’s happening, and then that bleeds into everything else and you start practicing other things,” Morikawa continued after round two.

“It’s tough, but the self-belief when I tee it up is always there. It’s just a hard game. Every day you don’t know what to expect. You don’t know what you’re going to get. But when you’re able to kind of see some shots that you say, okay, I know what I can do with this, it then bleeds in in a good way.”

Another good round in the third could see Morikawa turn the heat up on Tommy Fleetwood at the top and if that happens, we could be in for a fine Sunday finish.