US Open winner in three-way tie for lead

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 4-under-par 66 to share the lead at the Tour Championship.

Johnson had 165 yards from the sand and worried about getting it over the lip of the bunker. He hit 8-iron to 2 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-5 18th — the nines have been switched at East Lake — for a 66, while 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 nothing indicated that anything has GOLF changed.

He hit a reasonable number 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 all were 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 lone shot on the opening hole and was at 67, along with Kevin Kisner and Si Woo Kim.

“I’d like to give Dustin a good run for it,” Day said.

Jordan Spieth was 3 over through two holes, but rallied for a 68. Also at 68 was Rory McIlroy, who had consecutive double bogeys toward the end of the front nine and pulled himself together with four straight birdies on the back.