No. 5 Johnson ready for Britishlevel chill
Dustin Johnson wisely packed for this PGA Championship as if he were heading overseas for the British Open.
“It’s not different at all,” Johnson said Wednesday, on another gray day at Harding Park. “We’ve played here before, so you know it’s probably going to be chilly. I packed the same way I do as if I’m going to the British.”
Johnson will tee off at 8:22 a.m. Thursday, amid mostly cloudy conditions and a forecast temperature of 57 degrees, according to weather.com. His tee time is 1:47 p.m. Friday, when the forecast calls for sunny skies and 63 degrees.
Johnson, the world’s fifthranked player, arrives in San Francisco as a bit of an enigma. He won the Travelers Championship in late June, shot 8080 to miss the cut at the Memorial, withdrew from the event outside Minneapolis with back trouble and tied for 12th on Sunday in Memphis.
Five years ago, in the Match Play Championship at Harding Park, Johnson won two of his three matches but did not advance out of group play.
Now, with Harding returning to its regular routing for the PGA, he expects a lively finish: a short par4 at No. 16, windswept par3 at No. 17 and long, sharp dogleg par4 at No. 18.
“It’s really a good finish,” Johnson said of the final three holes.
Morikawa’s audition: Cal alum Collin Morikawa got a cool, unexpected phone call a few weeks ago — from U.S. Ryder Cup captain Steve Stricker.
Stricker wanted to play a practice round with Morikawa, to get to know him and see his game in person. They made it happen Tuesday at Harding, alongside twotime Ryder Cup captain Davis Love III (now a vice captain to Stricker).
Morikawa, at No. 12 in the world ranking barely more than a year after turning pro, suddenly counts as a strong contender to make the U.S. team for next year’s event at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin.
“It’s awesome,” Morikawa said. “I had never met Steve, and he was really nice about it. … To play with him and Davis was pretty special. I was just trying to learn off these guys. They know what they’re doing.”
Morikawa will tee off at 8 a.m. Thursday, alongside major champions Zach Johnson and Henrik Stenson.
Quotable: “It was very difficult saying goodbye to your wife and 3yearold for 10 weeks. But like I said to them, ‘I’m not going off to war. I’m going to play golf.’ It’s not the end of the world. These are strange times in our life, and it’s something I have to do. It’s not easy, but it’s fine.”
— 2019 British Open champ
Shane Lowry, on leaving his home in Ireland to play in the U.S. for the next twoplus months
Briefly: All 156 players in the field, and all 156 caddies, tested negative for the coronavirus, according to the PGA of America. … Random, crazy stat: Brooks Koepka is 76underpar in majors since 2016, far ahead of the nextbest player, Jordan Spieth at 25under. … Twotime major champ Zach Johnson played a practice round Wednesday with Utah club pro Zach Johnson . ... Alex Noren joined the field when Vaughn Taylor withdrew because of an injury.