Dustin Johnson is tough to beat when he wants to be.
Ditto for Brooks Koepka.
Seems like the No. 1 and No. 2 players in the world showed up on Thursday at the Northern Trust, ready to make playoff runs.
D.J. should have been the first round leader but seems the par five 17th hole got in his way. All Johnson did was shoot a four-under par 67 despite a triple-bogey eight on the 588-yard hole. His troubles started there when he hit his tee shot out-of-bounds left. After his third found the fairway, he laid up but missed the green from 96 yards, catching a left greenside bunker. A sloppy bunker shot followed by a three-putt added up to the triple.
Still he was just a shot out of the lead.
Like Johnson, Koepka can dominate when he wants to. The U.S. Open and PGA champ is known for slow starts but he was all but slow at Ridgewood Thursday morning. He turned in a 67 to join Johnson and what seemed like an endless list of players who shot five-under.
Scores were low thanks to the old “lift-clean-and-place” rule, made necessary by heavy rains in northern New Jersey earlier this week. Add receptive greens to those damp fairways and the birdies cam early and often.
Kevin Tway, Jamie Lovemark, Sean O’Hair and Vaughn Taylor won’t bring droves of fans but there are tied for the lead after they all shot five-under par 66s.
Other players of note joining Koepka and Johnson were Tommy Fleetwood and Hideki Matsuyama.
Tiger Woods got out early but really didn’t make much happen. He finished with an even par 71 and his yardages left him with awkward numbers for his approach shots.
“One of those days where I just kept having the half-club and was never able to fully swing at it and having to hit little softies in there, control my flight, maneuver the golf ball,” Woods lamented. “One of those days.”
The grounds were also buzzing over the announced head-to-head match in November between Woods and Phil Mickelson.
Mickelson got the best of Woods Thursday. He shot a three-under par 68.
At day’s end, nearly half of the 125-man field shot in red numbers.
There was a significant WD on Thursday. Wyndham winner Brandt Snedeker, who is in the mix to be Ryder Cup captain’s pick, withdrew because of back spasms. Sneds couldn’t play in the Pro-Am on Wednesday. He will seek treatment and hopefully be in the field next week in Boston.
