Johnson had 165 yards from the sand and anxious about getting it over the lip of the bunker. The top five were all among the dozen players who broke par in the opening round.
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Day, who has recently battled a back injury, is tied for fourth with Kevin Kisner and South Korea’s Kim Si-woo. “That’s why some of the drives went a little bit wide”, Day said. The defending FedEx Cup champion let his short game bail him out in a big way.
Co-leader Johnson birdied three of his opening six holes to put the pressure on his competitors and finished his round on a high with another birdie at 18. This is a golf course where I feel very comfortable on the greens and very comfortable in general, feel comfortable on this type of grass so I made a couple of long putts on the next two holes to settle me down and we got it to even by the turn.
“I’ve still got to play the golf that needs to be played to try and beat these guys”. I have no doubt. I felt really relaxed out there all day.
McIlroy rode a rollercoaster all day, carding seven birdies but also a bogey and two double bogeys. He started his day by holing a 95-foot birdie putt.
Johnson has finished out of the top 10 only twice in the last four months – one of them a missed cut at the PGA Championship out of nowhere – and is making it tough on everyone.
Johnson will secure the $10m (£7.7m) prize money on offer in the FedEx Cup if he wins in Atlanta, with a top-five finish likely to be enough.
And one of those is Johnson, who is faring quite well at the moment.
The US$10 million bonus on offer to the playoff series victor was still clearly in the 32-year-old’s sights after a round of five birdies and one bogey.
“It would be OK for the Ryder Cup next week I think, playing like this”, McIlroy said on Sky Sports.
Northern Irishman McIlroy is the only member of the European Ryder Cup team in the 30-man field at East Lake in Atlanta, where eight players from the United States lineup are in action ahead of next week’s showdown in Chaska, Minnesota.
World number seven Watson is the highest-ranked player not already on the USA team, and he arrived at East Lake knowing he needed a strong showing after being overlooked last week when Love made his first three wild card picks.
Spieth and McIlroy had mixed rounds but are alongside Paul Casey and Justin Thomas in a tie for seventh at two under.
“I can afford those mistakes hopefully on a Thursday, but no more hopefully”, Scott said. It’s not about my play.
“When I get to the top of the swing, as soon as my hips start to unfold and then there’s that bit of separation, it just crunches down”.
Play started 3 hours, 25 minutes late because of fog, with many players unable to finish before dark.
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The 2015 PGA Championship victor drained the six-footer for birdie before picking up another stroke on the closing par-5 18th – formerly the 9th hole until the course was reversed for this week’s event.
