Johnson finding groove, trails by 1
OLD WESTBURY, N.Y. » Golf hasn’t felt this easy to Dustin Johnson since he was making it hard for anyone to beat him.
Coming off a week in the Bahamas and switching back to his old putter to rely more on feel, Johnson ran off three birdies over his last six holes at Glen Oaks Club and finished with a 5-under 65 to trail Russell Henley by one shot after the opening round of The Northern Trust.
Johnson missed only two fairways and two greens Thursday afternoon, and he finished with a shot up the hill to 4 feet for one last birdie that gave him his lowest round since he won at Riviera in February to rise to No. 1 in the world.
The first of four FedEx Cup playoff events moved this year to Glen Oaks, a course no one in the field knows particularly well. It is spacious and immaculate, the contoured greens that can be difficult to negotiate outside of close range.
Henley brought a conservative strategy of aiming for the safe part of the green, and he converted eight birdies. OTTAWA, ONTARIO » Marina Alex shot a 5-under 66 to take the lead in the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open, while Canadian star Brooke Henderson was in danger of missing the cut after a 74. FARSO, DENMARK » Australian Wade Ormsby and Englishmen Matt Wallace and Steve Webster shared the lead on 7-under 64 after the first round of the Made In Denmark tournament on the European Tour.
Farah ends track career with win
ZURICH » Four-time Olympic champion Mo Farah’s track career ended with a thrilling win in a sprawling four-man finish to the 5,000 meters at the Weltklasse Diamond League meeting.
Farah avenged his world championships loss by Muktar Edris, who fell over the finish line as just 0.13 seconds separated the first four men. They also shared the top-four places in London two weeks ago.
Ginobili back to Spurs
SAN ANTONIO » Manu Ginobili is returning for his 16th season with the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs resigned the 40-year-old Argentine guard.
Ginobili will become the eighth player in NBA history to spend his entire career with one team and play at least 16 seasons, joining Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Kobe Bryant, Dirk Nowitzki, John Stockton, Reggie Miller and John Havlicek.