The playoffs got off to a good-weather start Thursday at the posh, ritzy Glen Oaks Club in the ultra-wealthy community of Old Westbury. Here are your first-day observations of what transpired on day one of the FedEx Cup playoffs:
Russell Henley emerged as your first round leader. He out-performed a bunch of show-ponies with a six-under par 64.
Dustin Johnson began to look like the Dustin Johnson that took the PGA Tour by storm in the first three months of the season. D.J. once again made the game look easy. One bogey, six birdies and a pretty-spiffy 65. Looks like the family vacation in the Bahamas did a world of good.
Points leader Hideki Matsuyama had a terrible first round. He shot 74 and found himself tied for 102nd. Hideki got outed earlier this week as the world discovered he is both married and a new father.
PGA Champ Justin Thomas is still on his game. J.T. shot 68.
Jordan Spieth was okay, shot one under — 69.
Bubba Watson made a surprise appearance near the top of the leaderboard. Bubba shot 67. He came in this week in the 113th spot and needs a good week to get into the top 100 to advance to Boston. Regardless of how he does in the playoffs, Bubba says he will take the next four-and-a-half months off. Won’t see him again until mid-January of 2018.
Harold Varner III had a great showing last week and barely made it into the top 125. He’s No. 123 and apparently pretty determined to make it farther into the playoffs. He shot 67 Thursday.
Rory McIlroy, the defending FedEx Cup champion, had a tough day. Rory shot 73 and he’s got to be thinking he should probably join Bubba for an extended vacation.
U.S. Open champ Brooks Koepka wasn’t very impressive on day one. Koepka shot 72.
Rickie Fowler and Jon Rahm played in the afternoon wave with D.J. Both shot 68s.
Surprise of the first round? Three of ’em — Camilo Villegas, Scott Brown and Chris Kirk all shot 66s.
