Johnson Rides The Emotion Of Near Ace To A Penultimate Hole ‘Fat Lady’.

7 years ago by Comments Off on Johnson Rides The Emotion Of Near Ace To A Penultimate Hole ‘Fat Lady’.

Paramus, New Jersey…..

World No. 1 and defending champion Dustin Johnson rode the emotion of what was an eighth hole triple bogey ‘fat lady’ eight and then the near miss of an ace at what was his 15th hole on the opening day of the Northern Trust in New Jersey.

Johnson began his round from the ninth and he raced to four-under with four birdies from his second to eight holes but then taking three shots to get up-and-down from a greenside bunker at the par-5 17th he was playing as his ninth hole.

Then at the par-3 sixth hole on the scorecard and the 15th of Johnson’s his tee shot agonisingly lipped-out in an eventual round of a four-under par 67.

It left the American in a group of 13 players and trailing just one stroke behind the leading foursome of fellow countryman Kevin Tway, Jamie Lovemark, Vaughan Taylor and Sean O’Hair.

Johnson had the Ridgewood Country Club crowd roaring their delight when his tee shot at his 15th landed short and then rolled some 40-feet toward the flagstick only to lip out.

‘DJ’, hearing the roar of the crowd, raised his left arm in delight at the thought of a 29th PGA Tour ace.

“When I saw everybody behind the green starting to go crazy, so I knew it was close,” he said.

The  tap-in birdie from around two-feet was the third of his day but it was the triple earlier on that denied Johnson what could have easily been a two-shot leading cushion in the $US 9m event.

“It was a good round but the triple was just so bad,” he said.

“I tried to hit a high cut and to be on the right side of the hole but I hit that ball 70-yards left of where I was looking, and in general, if I’m trying to hit a high cut, if anything I’m going to over cut it to the right, so it came out low and hooked.

“I just laughed.  I literally just laughed at the way I hit the shot.  I haven’t hit a shot like that in a long time, so it was kind of funny.  Wasn’t funny when I made the triple, though.”

In the same three-ball as Johnson was Koepka and in contrast to Johnson’s misfortune at 17, the triple Major winner landed his second shot some 35-feet short and then rolled-in the eagle ‘3’ putt.

And with Koepka currently lying No. 3 behind Johnson on the FedEx Cup points table, it was interesting to not what he and ‘DJ’ did not talk about during their rounds.

“I’ve not actually talked to him about it (FedEx Cup standings), “ said Koepka.

“I’d love to knock him off, and I’m sure he’d love to keep me where I’m at. It’s fun.  It’s actually been really good for both of us.

“But as for today?  I didn’t hit too many fairways what on my first 11 holes and I was laughing about how poorly I had driven it.

“In the end, I did a good job out there. Even when I did miss a fairway, we’ve got wedges in our hands, so it wasn’t too bad of a deal.”

Trailing five shots behind is Tiger Woods and teeing-up in a ‘Play-Off Series’ event for a first occasion in five years but would prove a frustrating day for the current World No. 26 and in his first competitive round since finishing a brilliant runner-up to Koepka in the PGA Championship.

“I just didn’t have the situations where I had a full club and I could go ahead and take a rip at it and start being aggressive and going after these flags,” he said.

“It meant playing a little defensive because I was taking more club, trying to shape it and take spin off.

“One of those days”.

Brandt Snedeker, and winner of last week’s Wyndham Championship, was forced out before tee-off due to a chest injury.

It reduced the field to 119 ahead of Murry Grayson withdrawing after posting a seven-over par 78.

The leading 100 on the FedEx Cup points table after the New Jersey event will move onto the next week’s Dell Technologies at TPC Boston.



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