Z. Johnson shares lead
2015 Open champ, Kisner tied at 6 under; Woodsmakes cut at even par.
The way golf CARNOUSTIE, SCOTLAND— has beengoing the past fewyears, itwould be reasonable to see the name “Johnson” atop the leaderboard and assume it belonged to the No. 1 player in the world. But not necessarily at the British Open. Zach Johnson — not Dustin — already has his name on the claret jug. And the way he handled the rain Friday in his round of 4-under 67, he might have a
chance to see it on that precious silver trophy again.
Johnson holed a 30-foot birdie putt on the 18th to reach 6-under 136, tied with
fifirst- round leader Kevin Kisner, who shot a 1-under 70 on Friday afternoon.
They had a one-shot lead over Tommy Fleetwood, the top player on the European Tour last year, Pat Perez (68) and Xander Schauffffffffffffele (66). Fleetwood put together the best round of the week at Carnoustie with a 65.
Rory McIlroy had another 69 and was two shots behind.
Tiger Woods still walked away Friday realizing he made it a little tougher on
continued fromC1 the weekend at Carnoustie if he wants to end a decade without winning amajor. A rugged start, a strong recovery, a fewputts for birdie, a fewhe missed for par, and it added to another even-par 71. He’s six shots offthe pace.
The light rain from overnight never let up for the morning starters. It wasn’t enough to turn the color of grass frombrown to green, just enough to be a nuisance playing in rain gear.
Johnsonovercameabogey on the opening hole with birdies on the third and fourth holes, and he never put himself under toomuch pressure the rest of theway.
Already a two-time major champion with titles at St. Andrews and Augusta National, the 42-year-old fromIowa nowhasmadethe cut 12 straight times in the British Open, a streak that began at Carnoustie in 2007. His low ball flight, grinding nature and good putting give him the right ingredients. As for that other Johnson? Dustin Johnson became the first No. 1 player in the world tomiss the cut at the Open since Luke Donald in 2011 atRoyal St. George’s. He appeared to keep it together with a tough par save from the bunker on No. 12, followed by two straight birdies. But he had another poor finish, closing bogey-double bogey for a 72 and is at 6-over 148 for 36 holes.
Zach Johnson and Dustin Johnson, one of golf’s most powerful players, share nothing in common but a surname. That hasn’t kept the casual fan fromoccasionally calling Zach Johnson by the wrong name.
“I certainly am not the No. 1 player in the world that ends in ‘Johnson,” he said. “I’ve been called Dustin many times. I doubt he’s been called Zach thatmany times.”