Johnson (65) is tied for second
Dustin Johnson got off to a fast start Thursday at Congaree in his home-state Palmetto Championship, shooting a six-under 65 that left him a shot behind leader Wes Roach at Ridgeland, S.C.
Johnson, the world’s topranked player and a South Carolina native, hadn’t played since missing the cut the last time he teed it up in the Palmetto State at the PGA Championship on Kiawah Island last month.
Johnson appeared he might share the lead before Roach, a 32-year-old seeking his first PGA Tour victory, rolled in a go-ahead birdie on the 16th hole.
Still, Johnson had a smooth, bogey-free round in the field’s first try at the Congaree Golf Club as the replacement tournament for the canceled RBC Canadian Open, called off a second straight season due to COVID-19 concerns.
Roach, splitting time on the PGA and Korn Ferry tours this season, shot his lowest PGA Tour round since November 2019. He was a stroke in front of Johnson, Doc Redman, Chesson Hadley and South Africa’s Erik van Rooyen.
LPGA
Tour rookie Leona Maguire of Ireland, who failed to earn an exemption for last week’s Women’s U.S. Open, returned to competition with a seven-under 65, good for a one-shot lead at the LPGA Mediheal Championship at Daly City, Calif.
Maguire, a 26-year-old who played at Duke, had nine birdies and two bogeys at Lake Merced Golf Club.
Jasmine Suwannapura of Thailand was one shot behind at 66, with Albane Valenzuela, the former Stanford player from Switzerland, and former UCLA standout Alison Lee at 68.