Johnson tied for Players lead with No. 1 on line

With his No. 1 world ranking at stake this week, Dustin Johnson sent a message to his pursuers with a resounding 6-under-par 66 on Thursday to grab a share of the lead after the first round of The Players Championship in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.

Johnson is part of a six-way tie atop the leaderboard with Patrick Cantlay, Matt Kuchar, Webb Simpson, Chesson Hadley and Sweden’s Alex Noren. Six players sharing the lead is the most at The Players since the event moved to TPC Sawgrass in 1982.

Defending champion Si Woo Kim of South Korea is among a group of six players one shot off the lead. Also at 5 under par are 51-year-old Steve Stricker, Keith Mitchell, Andrew Landry, Venezuela’s Jhonattan Vegas and South Africa’s Rory Sabbatini.

Johnson does not have a strong record at TPC Sawgrass, with a 12th-place finish last year his only top-25 showing in nine previous starts. However, with calm winds and perfect scoring conditions in the morning, Johnson opened the tournament on the back nine and rolled in five birdies to make the turn at 5-under 31. He managed one more birdie on his closing nine to share the lead after the morning wave with Simpson and Noren.

“Today was a pretty good day for scoring,” Johnson told the Golf Channel. “The greens were receptive, they’re rolling perfect. The course is in immaculate shape, and it’s going to firm up as the week goes on. The weather looks like it’s going to be really nice for the rest of the weekend, so it definitely will get a little bit tougher as the week goes on.”

Simpson, who has four top-10s against just one missed cut this season, briefly held the clubhouse lead after his 66.

“I’ve learned that you’ve got to be really smart,” Simpson said about playing TPC Sawgrass. “You’re going to have birdie opportunities every day, no matter how tough the golf course is set up, no matter how much the wind is blowing.

“You’ve got four par-5s — given the right wind, even I can get to all four of them. So they give you opportunities, but I’ve gotten into trouble in the past when I’ve gotten too aggressive, tried to make too many birdies and forced things. You can quickly make a big number. So my mindset today was just to be as smart as I can and stay away from those big numbers.”

Kim was the only player in the morning wave to reach 7 under, but he settled for a 67 after bogeying two of his final three holes. Cantlay, Hadley and Spain’s Sergio Garcia each reached 7 under in the afternoon before dropping shots.

“You gotta to know where to miss the ball and where to hit it off the tees,” Hadley told the Golf Channel. “I’ve certainly figured out which holes that I don’t play well. It takes a few years to kind of get your bearings around here.

“It’s going to be punishment one of these days for sure. They’re going to tighten the screws and the greens are going to get firmer and faster. It will be challenging for sure, I’m well aware of that.”

Garcia came up short and in the water at the famed 17th hole and barely made his double-bogey putt. He also bogeyed No. 18 to drop into a tie for 13th at 4 under. That 14-player logjam includes fellow Spaniard Jon Rahm, playing partner Henrik Stenson of Sweden, England’s Justin Rose, Bubba Watson and 38-year-old Lucas Glover.

“I think I’ve done a better job of … not figuring it out, you never figure it out, but I’ve done a better job of being less aggressive when I need to and more aggressive when I need to,” Glover told reporters of his approach at TPC Sawgrass. “I used to be just too aggressive and it didn’t work. And it’s more of let’s just get it in the fairway, even if you have to lay way back, sometimes you have to hit it in the middle of the green.

“And I’ve done a good job of that in the times that I’ve played well here. Took me a few years to learn that you didn’t have to overpower it, not that I can overpower it anymore.”

Australia’s Jason Day, who climbed to No. 7 in the world golf rankings following his second victory of the year at the Wells Fargo Championship last week, is tied for 27th at 3 under. U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka is another shot back, and Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy is at 1 under along with Zach Johnson.

Tiger Woods and Masters champion Patrick Reed posted even-par 72s and are among 85 players within six shots of the lead, so Friday’s cut may be under par with the conditions expected to remain calm. Justin Thomas is tied for 86th at 1 over while Rickie Fowler, the 2015 Players champion, is tied for 95th at 2 over. Phil Mickelson struggled mightily in posting a 7-under 79.

Four players have a chance to surpass Johnson for No. 1 this week. Jordan Spieth, the only one to have previously held the top spot, has a large hill to climb just to make the cut after opening with a 3-over 75 that saw him three-putt his first hole and dunk three balls in the water in his first nine holes. World No. 2 Thomas, No. 3 Rahm and No. 5 Rose all have a chance to rise to No. 1 for the first time in their careers.

“I definitely want to keep it,” said Johnson, who has spent 64 consecutive weeks at No. 1. “But I still have three more days of golf, and I’m going to have to play really well if I want to keep the No. 1 spot.

“With the game where it is right now, there’s a lot of really good players right at the top of the world rankings, so for me to stay up there, I’m going to have to play really well.”

NOTES: Kuchar and Landry were the only players in the top 12 to begin their rounds on the front nine Thursday. … Mitchell was the last player in the field, gaining entry on Wednesday when England’s Paul Casey withdrew due to a back injury. Casey’s withdrawal left 49 of the top 50 players in the field, meaning the 2016 U.S. Open is still the most recent tournament to feature the full top 50. … Koepka is making just his third start since missing nearly four months due to a wrist injury. He aggravated the injury on the driving range Wednesday when a golf cart drove in front of him, forcing Koepka to check his swing. He had an MRI and said he was not sure if he would tee it up until he arrived at the course Thursday. Koepka added that the wrist was feeling better but not 100 percent.

–Field Level Media