‘Patient’ Johnson takes one-shot lead at PGA

Saturday, 15 August 2015 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Patient Sheboygan, WI, USA: Dustin Johnson lines up his eagle putt on the 16th green during the first round of the 2015 PGA Championship golf tournament at Whistling Straits – Brian Spurlock, USA TODAY Sports

Reuters: Dustin Johnson, so often the nearly man in recent majors, stayed patient and took advantage of relatively calm early conditions to stand one stroke clear after the opening round of the PGA Championship on Thursday.

While most golf fans eagerly awaited the ‘Rory and Jordan’ show that was to unfold in the afternoon at Whistling Straits, the long-hitting American racked up an eagle at the par-five 16th, five birdies and a bogey to card a six-under-par 66.

Swede David Lingmerth, who won his first PGA Tour title at the Memorial Tournament in June, recorded the best score in the tougher afternoon conditions as winds gusted up to 28 mph (45 kph), firing a six-birdie 67 to finish a stroke off the pace.

It was a rewarding and timely opening round for Johnson, who five years ago incurred a two-stroke penalty on the final hole of the last PGA Championship to be played here that cost him a spot in a playoff for the title.

“I thought I did a great job of just staying patient, hitting the shots that the course allowed me to hit,” Johnson said of his opening round in the year’s fourth and final major. “And I struck the ball well today, so I was very pleased.”

Fellow Americans Matt Kuchar, Russell Henley, Harris English, J.B. Holmes and Scott Piercy, Australians Jason Day and Matt Jones, and New Zealander Danny Lee opened with 68s on the visually spectacular but challenging links-style layout.

World number one Rory McIlroy and second-ranked Jordan Spieth, who between them have won four of the last five majors played, were among the late starters in a marquee grouping with British Open champion Zach Johnson.

Watched by massive galleries, all three provided their share of the spectacular, along with a few mis-steps along the way, before McIlroy and Spieth wound up with matching 71s and Johnson with a 75.

The return from an ankle injury by McIlroy to defend his PGA Championship crown this week and Spieth’s bid to win a third grand slam title this year had marked out the season’s final major as extra special, and both remain in contention.

Among the other big names in the field, twice Masters champion Bubba Watson and five-times major winner Phil Mickelson carded even-par 72s.