PGA Tour playoffs underway
PARAMUS, N.J. — Tiger Woods failed to carry any momentum he had from his last tournament into the start of the FedEx Cup playoffs.
Neither did Sean O’Hair.
That was only good news for one of them Thursday at The Northern Trust.
O’Hair missed the cut last week, leading to his FedEx Cup standing slipping to No. 121, meaning he has to play well this week or his season is over. His immediate goal is to advance to the third stage of playoff events because the BMW Championship is at Aronimink Golf Club outside Philadelphia, where O’Hair is a member.
He drilled a 3-wood from 284 yards to six feet from the hole for an eagle on No. 3. He hammered another 3-wood on the par-5 17th to 10 feet from the cup, settling for a twoputt birdie. That carried O’Hair to a 5-under-par 66, giving him a share of the lead with Jamie Lovemark, Kevin Tway and Vaughn Taylor.
“I’m obviously very disappointed that I’m not in a better position, but I’m kind of in charge of my destiny,” O’Hair said. “If I play good golf, I’m just going to work into the next week.”
Woods, playing for the first time since his runner-up finish at this month’s PGA Championship, had a pair of birdies, a pair of bogeys and a lot of pars for a 71. He was five shots behind and in a tie for 60th. After a rough start off the tee, Woods wound up hitting nine of 14 fairways — he just never got it close enough for good looks at birdie.
“Just didn’t have the situations where I had the full club and I could go ahead and take a rip at it and start being aggressive and going after these flags,” Woods said. “I kept having to play a little defensive because I was taking more club, trying to shape it and take spin off. One of those days.”
Woods is back in the FedEx Cup playoffs for the first time in five years, and it was his first time at Ridgewood Country Club since 2010. Thousands came to watch him play, and they heard plenty of cheers from the group behind him.
Dustin Johnson rimmed out a 6-iron on the par-3 sixth for one of his seven birdies to offset a triple bogey for a 67. U.S. Open and PGA champion Brooks Koepka ran off four birdies and an eagle for his 67. FedEx Cup champion Justin Thomas had four birdies in his round of 69.
Johnson could tell his 6-iron was close to perfect from the flight of the shot, where it landed and the reaction of the fans behind the par-3 sixth green as the ball rolled around left edge of the cup.
Or were they cheering because Woods teed off on the hole ahead of them?
“I was kind of debating whether they were yelling for me or him,” Johnson said with a smile.
O’Hair isn’t alone in the urgency to play well. The top 100 in the FedEx Cup standings advance to the second stage next week at TPC Boston, with the top 70 going to the BMW Championship and the top 30 making it to East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta for the Tour Championship.
Baylor School graduate Luke List (70) was tied for 49th in the tournament, with two other former Red Raiders standouts in the event — Harris English and Keith Mitchell — shooting 75s as part of the crowd tied for 108th.
Daly ties mark
VYSOKY UJEZD, Czech Republic — John Daly matched the course record with an 8-under 64 for a share of the firstround lead in the Czech Masters.
The 52-year-old Daly was tied with European Ryder Cup hopeful Thomas Pieters of Belgium, Malaysia’s Gavin Green and England’s Callum Tarren. Five players were a shot behind in fifth.
Fighting a knee injury that forced him to withdraw after two rounds last week in the PGA Tour Champions’ event in New York, Daly had eight birdies in the bogey-free round at Albatross Golf Resort.
The two-time major champion won the last of his five PGA Tour titles in 2004. He won a Champions event last year in Houston.
Play was suspended late in the day for more than an hour because of the threat of lightning.
Trio at the top
REGINA, Saskatchewan — Ariya Jutanugarn birdied five of her last eight holes for an 8-under 64 and a share of the first-round lead in the CP Women’s Open at rain-softened Wascana Country Club.
Nasa Hataoka and Mariajo Uribe joined the second-ranked Jutanugarn atop the leaderboard, and Nanna Koerstz Madsen and Angel Yin were tied for fourth another stroke back. Canadian star Brooke Henderson and three-time tournament champion Lydia Ko shared sixth, two strokes out of the lead.
With players allowed to lift, clean and place their golf balls in the fairways because of the damp conditions, Jutanugarn birdied the first four holes and finished with nine birdies and a bogey in the morning round in sunny, hot conditions.
The Thai star won the event two years ago in Calgary. She’s tied for the LPGA Tour victory lead this season with three, winning the U.S. Women’s Open, the Kingsmill Championship and the Ladies Scottish Open.