Dustin Johnson led the pack with four straight birdies at the US Open on Thursday. He finished the round at 4-under 66, alone in second place, two shots behind Wyndham Clark.
What happened?
Johnson's game was on point, hitting his first 11 fairways and making a 3 1/2-foot putt for a birdie on the par-3 seventh.
Johnson walked away from Shinnecock in a seven-way tie for second with three holes to finish Friday to close out the first round.
Why it matters for Dustin Johnson
This is an unfamiliar spot for Johnson, who held the world's top ranking for 135 weeks between 2017 and 2021 and now finds himself in the mix in a major for the first time in at least three years.
The timing is good, as Johnson's 10-year exemption to the U.S. Open, earned when he won at Oakmont in 2016, expires after this year.
What comes next?
Johnson was paired with Clark, and the two former champions seemed to feed off each other, with Johnson hitting drives of 403 and 330 yards for his third and fourth straight birdies.
On 18 Jun, Johnson was listed as a 200-1 long shot to win, but his performance on Thursday has changed the landscape of the tournament.
Johnson's best finish in the 14 majors since he left the PGA Tour was a tie for 10th at the U.S. Open that Clark won in 2023 at LA Country Club.
The last time Johnson led at the end of a U.S. Open round was in 2018 — here at Shinnecock — but Koepka overtook him.
Johnson's move to LIV felt like one of the biggest blows to the PGA Tour, but his win at Oakmont in 2016 and Augusta in 2020 seem like feel-good affairs now.