Johnson shares lead in Atlanta
Dustin Johnson was in trouble from the start Thursday, just not for very long. The game feels easy for the U.S. Open champion, who began his bid for the FedEx Cup title on Thursday with a four-underpar 66 to share the lead at the Tour Championship in Atlanta.
Johnson had 165 yards from the sand and worried about getting it over the lip of the bunker. He hit eight-iron to two feet for birdie and was on his way to his sixth consecutive round at 68 or lower.
“It was a very nice shot to start the day,” Johnson said with a smile.
Hideki Matsuyama of Japan ran off three straight birdies early in his round and finished with a birdie on the par-five 18th — the nines have been switched at East Lake — for a 66, and Kevin Chappell joined them with a bogey-free round.
Johnson is coming off his third victory of the year at the BMW Championship two weeks ago, and there was no indication that anything has changed. He hit a reasonable amount of fairways (eight out of 14) considering the dry, fast conditions, and only once when he was out of position did he fail to save par.
He is the No. 1 seed in the FedEx Cup, and the top five seeds only have to win the Tour Championship to claim the $10-million FedEx Cup bonus. The top five were all among the dozen players who broke par in the opening round.
Jason Day, the world’s No. 1 player, who hasn’t won in four months, dropped his only shot on the opening hole and was at 67, along with Kevin Kisner and Si Woo Kim.
Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy were at 68, along with Justin Thomas and Paul Casey. Phil Mickelson played Nos. 6-8 bogey, triple bogey, double bogey and ended up with a 74. Bubba Watson made two late bogeys from the rough and had a 72 to tie for 15th.
Bernd Wiesberger shot nine birdies and one eagle en route to an eight-under 63 to lead the European Open by two strokes after a shortened opening day in Bad Griesbach, Germany. Play started nearly 31⁄2 hours late because of fog, and some leading contenders did not complete the first round in fading light.
Renato Paratore of Italy was two shots back. Denmark’s Lucas Bjerregaard, American Daniel Im and England’s Steve Webster all held the lead before Wiesberger’s late charge took him to the top, and they finished the day at five under, along with Sweden’s Michael Jonzon. England’s Matthew Southgate was also at five under through 11 holes.