Michael Morrison’s alma mater, the University of Georgia, made an emphatic opening statement Thursday in the first round of the NCAA East Regional at Council Fire. Morrison did the same thing Friday at the 72nd Signal Mountain Invitational.

The former Baylor School standout, who was a key member of Georgia’s 1999 national championship team, blistered the Signal Mountain Golf & Country Club course with an opening-round 63.

“I’ve been close to playing well all spring,” Morrison said, “and I guess it all finally came together.”

Morrison went out in 32 and came back in 31 for an 8-under-par, bogey-free round on a cool, windy day on the mountain, putting him in good position to win his fifth Invitational and second in a row.

“The wind was swirling a little bit, which made it kind of tricky,” he said, “but the greens are soft and they’re not really fast — so there’s not a whole lot of teeth in the golf course right now.”

His Bulldogs, who shot 19 under par Thursday to take a big early lead, added to it Friday with a combined round of 13-under, putting them at 32 under.

Morrison birdied the first two holes and added two (Nos. 7 and 9) before making the turn. He moved to 5 under with a birdie at No. 11 and made back-to-back birdies at Nos. 14 and 15 to get to 7 under.

At the 171-yard par-3 17th, Morrison hit his tee shot to about 15 feet below the hole and made the putt to get to 8 under. On the final hole he drove the ball perfectly up the left side of the fairway and put the ball about 17 feet left of the hole with his second shot. He missed the birdie putt, however, and had to settle for par.

“I played in (the foursome in) front of him,” said tournament director Tim Burns, who shot a 78, “and every time we turned around he was 3 or 4 feet from the hole. He could have been better, as hard as that is to believe. Sixty-three — wouldn’t you love to play golf and shoot a 63?”

Sam Cooper was 4 under after four holes — he eagled the first and birdied the second and fourth — and shot a 4-under 67. Hixson’s Paul Apyan, who plays at Southern Miss and tied for third in the Conference USA tournament last month, shot a 3-under 68. Walt Moffitt and Steve White shot 69s.

Burns said he was very pleased to have a field of 102, which he said was down only a couple from last year.

“To have 102 playing in this, that was a victory in itself,” he said.

After his stellar opening round, Burns said only a couple are likely to challenge Morrison, who won last year’s tournament by eight strokes.

“Michael on Signal Mountain is going to be very tough to beat every year, but there are some awful good players here,” Burns said. “By Sunday, a few people could have a shot at him, but they’re going to have to play awful well.”