Johnson, Koepka open strong as Woods gets off to even start
PARAMUS » Dustin 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 .
The ball rolled around the left edge of the cup, inches from a hole-in-one.
Or were they cheering because Tiger 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.
Woods returned to the PGA Tour’s postseason Thursday by making two birdies, two bogeys and 14 pars in a most ordinary round of even-par 71, attracting thousands of fans who kept relatively quiet.
They missed a better show right behind them.
Johnson made birdies without having any idea where his tee shots were going until the closing stretch. U.S. Open and PGA champion Brooks Koepka made birdies by smashing driver as often as he could and muscling it out of the deep rough with wedges when he missed. FedEx Cup champion Justin Thomas made his share of birdies while trying to avoid hitting in the trees.
Kevin Tway, Jamie Lovemark and Vaughn Taylor wound up sharing the lead at 5-under 66 among the early starters at rain-softened Ridgewood Country Club.
Johnson and Koepka were right behind in the group at 67.
Woods might have expected better after hitting nine of 14 fairways. He just never gave himself many chances.
“One of those days where I just kept having the halfclub and was never able to fully swing at it and having to hit little softies in there, control my flight, maneuver the golf ball,” Woods said.
Tway, Taylor and Lovemark all need to play well to make sure they are among the top 100 who advance to the next event at the TPC Boston. Tway and Lovemark are ranked in the mid-80s, while Taylor is at No. 112.
Tway began his week playing in a charity event with good friend Morgan Hoffmann, who is coping with muscular dystrophy. Hoffmann is a reminder of how far players can go with the FedEx Cup points quadrupled in the playoffs.
“Morgan Hoffmann came in at 124 and went all the way to The Tour Championship,” Tway said, referring to 2014. “That’s kind of the plan, try to play as good as you can and go as far as you can.”
As wild as he was, Johnson only got flustered on a few occasions, the first one before he even hit a shot. He was introduced