British Open winner Collin Morikawa six strokes off lead after first round

After a weather delay of about two hours, former Cal standout Collin Morikawa finished his opening round of the Tokyo Olympics golf competition with a 2-under-par score of 69 Thursday.

That left Morikawa tied for 20th, six strokes behind leader Sepp Straka of Austria, who finished his first round before the weather delay, carding an 8-under-par 63. Straka has a one-stroke lead over Jazz Janewattananond of Thailand, who is alone in second at 7-under.

Morikawa, who entered the tournament as the favorite to win gold, will tee off for his second round at 4:25 p.m. Pacific time on Thursday.

Morikawa is coming off his second victory in a major, winning the British Open on July 18.

He was at 1-under and on the 14th green when the horn sounded to clear the course because of lightning nearby. 

Tropical Storm Nepartak was originally expected to hit the region this week, with maximum gusts of 70 mph, but it made landfall on northeastern Japan, and veered off the projected course that would have carried it to the Tokyo area and caused much more of a problem for the Olympics.

After a two-hour wait, Morikawa got back on the course at 4:15 p.m. Tokyo time (12:15 a.m. Thursday Pacific time). He was back on the course and parred the 14. Morikawa then birdied the 15th hole before recording pars on the final three holes.

There are three Americans in the Olympics golf event, being held at Kasumigaseki Country Club in Saitama, Japan. Patrick Reed and Xander Schauffele are at 3-under, and Justin Thomas is at even-par.