Dustin Johnson leads the Northern Trust Open by a stroke after yesterday's first round. He finished seven-under-par to take the top spot, having sunk a 65-foot birdie on the 12th. But Phil Mickelson hit three bogeys on the last four holes to finish the day one-over-par.
In all, Johnson racked up seven birdies and no bogeys to lead the pack. “Had good vibes going all day, and just hit the ball really good all day long,” the 25-year-old said.
The second place spot is jointly held by Andres Romero and Kevin Stadler on six-under, with Ricky Barnes and Brandt Snedeker a further shot behind on five-under. Stadler matched Johnson's seven birdies, but picked up a bogey early on on the 2nd, while Argentinian Romero could have taken the lead after picking up an impressive eight birdies, but he also suffered a double bogey on the 9th.
Steve Stricker is tied for sixth place on four-under, and the 42-year-old enjoyed a fantastic start, grabbing an eagle on the 1st and following that up with a birdie on the 2nd. But then the world No. 3 quickly began to run out of steam, bogeying the 3rd. He went on to pick up a further three birdies and a bogey over the round.
Japanese teenager Ryo Ishikawa was one shot further back on three-under, tied for ninth spot with South Africa's Ernie Els. American Anthony Kim could only finish on par, as did rookies Rickie Fowler and Alex Prugh. The rookies could yet improve those scores though, having been forced off the course with one hole still to play because of poor light.
Ireland's Padraig Harrington joined Mickelson on one-over-par, as did Australia's Robert Allenby and US Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin. Harrington had two birdies and three bogeys, and Allenby repeated that pattern, while Pavin had one birdie and a brace of bogeys.
Mickelson, supposedly the PGA's star turn with Tiger Woods still absent, limped home with four birdies and five bogeys. Yet midway through the round he'd been three-under-par, and well in contention. So what went wrong?
The world No. 2 opted not to include the controversial Ping Eye 2 club in his set yesterday, but it wasn't his pitching that was at fault; Mickelson's poor finish came about largely as the result of a series of just-missed putts, and three bogeys on the 15th, 16th and 18th consigned Mickelson to joint 83rd place on the leaderboard.
As the 39-year-old put it himself: "I had it right there with five or six holes to go, and I let it go." Maybe he can get it back today?
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