Morikawa shoots 61 to go from 9 strokes behind to 3-way tie for lead at Tour Championship

Collin Morikawa faced a tough road at the Tour Championship, starting the tournament nine shots behind but knowing he had 72 holes — and an example from Rory McIlroy last year — to make up ground in the FedEx Cup finale in Atlanta.

He managed to do that in one day, with a little help from the top.

Morikawa finally put together his most complete round of the year at a good time Thursday, closing with three straight birdies for a 9-under 61 that gave him a share of the lead with Ryder Cup hopeful Keegan Bradley (63) and BMW Championship winner Viktor Hovland (68).

They were at 10-under par, the score top-seeded Scottie Scheffler started with in the stifling heat of East Lake.

At the end of one round, 16 players — slightly more than half the 30-man field — were separated by four shots in the chase for the $18 million US FedEx Cup prize.

That includes McIlroy, who last year was 11 shots behind on the front nine of the opening round, six shots behind going into the last day and still won. Just getting to the first tee was a victory of sorts for McIlroy, who has been dealing with back spasms the last three days and could not hold a club over the golf ball on the eve of the tournament.

He shot 70 and was three behind, which he said left him "over the moon."

4 players were within 5 of the lead to start the day.<br><br>There are now 16.<br><br>1. Morikawa, -10<br>1. Bradley<br>1. Hovland<br>4. Scheffler, -9<br>5. Schenk, -8<br>5. Henley<br>7. Fitzpatrick, -7<br>7. McIlroy<br>7. Rahm<br>10. Hatton, -6<br>10. Schauffele<br>10. Clark<br>10. Harman<br>14. Kim, -5<br>14. Fowler<br>14. Cantlay

The staggered start is based on FedEx Cup standings. Scheffler began at 10 under as No. 1, all the way down to the final five players who