Dustin Johnson Shoots 66, Leads By 1 at the PGA Championship

After just one round of play at Whistling Straits, the leader of the 2015 PGA Championship thus far is a familiar face; that of our pick Dustin Johnson. He sits at 6-under par and holds a single shot lead over David Lingmerth. This is the third major in a row that Dustin has held the lead after 18 holes.

Dustin's round yesterday consisted of five birdies, an eagle, and a bogey which led to his 66 (note that the course record on the Straits course is 64). He also showed us that he's both long and accurate off the tee, hitting 10 of 14 fairways (fairways which are some of the tightest on tour) and missing only one GIR. On some holes, his distance was an advantage, as he was able to hit the ball over danger zones that other golfers might find themselves it. Typically, golfers either hit the ball a long way or are very accurate, but having both traits is a deadly combination.

Like we saw in the British Open, the afternoon tee times of the first round played in tougher conditions. The scoring average here was a 74.91, compared to a 73.41 in the morning. This was mainly due to high winds that came in off Lake Michigan. Some good rounds were shot in the afternoon, i.e. David Lingmerth's 67. The toughest hole of the day was the 501-yard par 4 18th. It played with a scoring average of 4.654. “You have to hit the fairway,” Danny Lee said after his round; it's as simple as that.

Some other rounds of note were Rory McIlroy's 71. Rory seeks to defend his title this week; he was unable to do so at the British Open due to a soccer injury. He sits at T26 due to an up and down round filled with four birdies and three bogeys. He even found himself in tough water, literally. On the 5th, he landed his ball in shallow water and his ball was partially submerged. The World Number One decided then to just play the shot from the water, rolling one pant leg up (no Stensen undressing required here) and hitting. He landed the ball well on the green and sank the par putt for an incredible up and down. We also saw no lingering signs of McIlroy's injury too, which is great news.

Finally, here's how are picks are doing:

1) Dustin Johnson: 1st at 6-under
2) Jim Furyk: 1-over at T55
3) Jason Day: T3 at 4-under

We talked about Dustin earlier. Furyk shot a 73 yesterday and despite being one of the most accurate players on Tour, his round mostly involved taking and giving shots back all day. He carded four birdies but five bogeys. Jason Day, to no one's surprise, shot a 68 and carded an eagle on the 2nd, three birdies and a bogey. Similar to Dustin, he also hit all GIR's and leads the field in driving distance (Dustin is 2nd); factors which probably led to his success. It just goes to show you how key distance and accuracy will be this week.

There's still a lot of golf to be played. Today's early tee times are currently underway and TV coverage should be on this afternoon. Stay tuned for our next post!


-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews

Dustin Johnson once again leads another major this year

Day 1 of the 2015 Open Championship

The last of the opening rounds of the 144th Open Championship are just wrapping up and the leader is none other than our pick Dustin Johnson, with an incredible round of 65 (7-under). He leads with a one shot lead over many players such as 1999 Open Champion Paul Lawrie, Zach Johnson, Jason Day (to no one's surprise), etc..., at the Old Course at St. Andrews. Dustin carded five birdies and an eagle during his morning round to take the lead early.

Today we saw many contrasts all over the course. To start, in typical links fashion, the front nine of the Old Course moves away from the clubhouse, whereas the back nine moves towards it. Add the wind to this scenario and you get two opposite playing nines. In this case, the front nine was playing easier than the back nine. For example, Sweden's David Lingmerth was making headlines early after he shot a 29 on the front nine. However, as with most players, he struggled on the back nine, shooting a 40 there.

The next contrast was the time of play. The morning players saw a more benign Old Course that was vulnerable at times, especially on the front nine. This is where players like Dustin Johnson were able to go low and get ahead early. As the day carried on, weather conditions deteriorated drastically. Stiff winds blew in, the course became firmer, and the temperature dropped, resulting in much more difficult conditions for the afternoon players. To put things in perspective, scoring average in the morning was about 71, while the scoring average in the afternoon was 72.8. The hardest hole of the day was the par 4 nearly 500 yard 17th AKA the "Road Hole". This is the famous hole where players have a blind tee shot and hazards such as deep bunkers and even a tarmac road along the way. It played with a scoring average of 4.83 and year after year has ranked as the toughest hole on Tour (when the Old Course is playing in the rotation).

Conditions are predicted to worsen for Friday, which will wreak havoc on the leaderboard; the Old Course wasn't going to let players get off that easily. As Zach Johnson said, when the conditions are predicted to be that bad, it's best to get rid of all expectations during your round. But for the fans, worsening weather conditions are always a spectacle and great to watch. It's to be expected at the British Open.

In other news, Tiger Woods sits at T140 at 4-over. He struggled all day with his clubs and often strike was to blame; he fatted a few of his shots, most notable his 2nd shot on the 1st, which found water. His putted also wasn't too hot and he made only half the GIR's. Better luck tomorrow.

Another notable round was that of 2010 Open Champion (the last time the Open was played at the Old Course) Louis Oosthuizen, who shot a 67 and sits at T8 on the leaderboard.

Finally, here's how our picks are doing:

1) Tommy Fleetwood: T18 at 3-under
2) Dustin Johnson: 1st at 7-under
3) Rickie Fowler: T64 at even par

Like most players today, Fleetwood had an excellent front nine and a couple of bogeys on the back nine. He continues his streak of excellent rounds at St. Andrews. Dustin said during his post round interview that the front nine played relatively easy for his game, but he was also under par for the back nine (when most players weren't). Fowler's score doesn't accurately reflect his play today. He teed off during the worst of conditions and made pars mostly, except for a couple of bogeys and a rare eagle at the 10th.

It's been a great opening day and there much more exciting golf to come. Check out our Day 2 recap tomorrow!


-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews

 Dustin Johnson is looking for redemption this week at the Open Championship

David Lingmerth Wins the 2015 Memorial

Once again a playoff was needed to decide the winner of The Memorial at Muirfield Village. This time around, it was between rookie David Lingmerth and veteran Justin Rose. Both had finished the tournament at 15-under par. Rose was leading going into the final round but shot a 72, whereas Lingmerth capitalized with a round of 69. The playoff lasted three holes (where the 18th was played twice, then the 10th hole). Lingmerth eventually emerged as the winner, winning with a par on the 10th after some errantness by Rose.

This is the Swedish golfer's first professional on the PGA Tour. The win catapults him into the top 30 in the FedEx Cup Rankings and takes him from 212th to 71st in the World Golf Rankings. This is also the first time in quite a bit where the leader going into the weekend was ended up winning the tournament.

Lingmerth and Rose finished two shots ahead of Francesco Molinari and Jordan Spieth. Molinari was actually tied for the lead until he hit his tee shot into the water on the par 3 16th hole. He ended up shooting a 71 that day. This is the Italian's third top 5 finish in his last four consecutive starts. You have to think that sooner or later he's going to win again. Spieth on the other hand shot a 65 in a round that included six birdies and an eagle. Canadian Graham DeLaet also finished decently at T26.

In other news, Tiger Woods had a disastrous weekend and ended up finishing in 71st (last) place. It started on Saturday when he shot his worst professional round in his career, an 85. He then followed that up with a 74 today, which is an improvement, but not the one Tiger was hoping for. Tiger's probably had more dropped shots this week than any other week of his professional career and seems to be in a little rough patch at the moment.

To end off, here's how our picks finished the tournament:

1) Bill Hass: T18 at 7-under
2) Chris Kirk: T36 at 3-under
3) Kevin Na: T13 at 9-under

Great finishes by Haas and Na. A top 20 finish in a tournament filled with this many quality players is always a good thing.

Next week, we'll be covering the FedEx St. Jude Classic at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee and after that the season's second major, the US Open. Stay tuned for our coverage on those events.


-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews

Sweden's David Lingmerth Wins the 2015 Memorial

2015 Memorial Weekend Update

Sorry for the slight delay in the post, but here's the Weekend Update of The Memorial. Swedish golfer David Lingmerth leads the field at Muirfield Village with a score of 12-under and a one shot lead over Ohio native Jason Dufner. The cut has also been set at 1-under.

Lingmerth fired off rounds of 67 and 65 to take the top spot at The Memorial and has only made 2 bogeys in his first two rounds, none of which came yesterday. Dufner on the other hand took a more unorthodox approach in his rounds, especially his back nine (the course's front nine) yesterday. It included a double bogey, an eagle (one of three that round), and a hole-in-one (which probably resulted in the most nonchalant reactions to an ace, given Dufner's personality). Muifield Village has also been playing great all week and the low round yesterday was a 64 shot by Andy Sullivan (T3).

For Tiger Woods, this marks another week where he's just barely made the cut. He sits at 1-under and only made the cut after holing a key putt on his final hole of his second round. He's been playing up and down all week, but especially bad on his back nines which he's played over par in both rounds.

For long time PGA Tour player Kenny Perry, this week at Muirfield Village is even more special as he is officially retiring from the PGA Tour. Perry chose The Memorial as his retirement tournament for good reason. He has 14 victories on tour, three of which were The Memorial. His first win came back in 1991, incidentally at The Memorial too. Throughout his career, he's also had a few close encounters with major wins, the most famous probably being the 2009 Masters where he lost in a playoff to Angel Cabrera. Kerry has also had a successful Champions Tour Career, where he will likely continue playing. Perry missed the cut this week by just one shot.

Finally, here's how our picks are doing:

1) Bill Hass: T45 at 3-under
2) Chris Kirk: T33 at 4-under
3) Kevin Na: T53 at 2-under

Not bad, but we'll see how the weekend rounds go. Stay tuned for our Results post coming Sunday evening!


-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews

David Lingmerth is on track for his first PGA Tour Win