Sheboygan, WI—In what is becoming a standard song for Dustin Johnson—also know as “DJ”—he has once again inserted himself as a major presence at a major event—the 97th PGA Championship. The issue is not hearing DJ’s song at the beginning of a key event but wondering if he can play the right song all the way through and finally earn his first major triumph.
DJ’s play during the first round at The Straits Course was vintage stuff. When Johnson is driving the ball both long and straight and his putter is cooperating, he makes golf look like a very simple game. Conditions in the morning tee time wave were mild given how winds escalated for players in the afternoon draw.
Johnson did what he has done at both the U.S. and British Opens this year—take command of the top spot this time with a six-under-par 66 and a one shot lead. To DJ’s credit he just keeps on placing himself in the mix. Other players might have faded from view after doing what he did at this year’s U.S. Open when he three-putted the 72nd hole and fumbled away at minimum a playoff against eventual winner Jordan Spieth. Or, the very next month, when DJ held the halfway lead at The Old Course at St. Andrews in The Open. Inexplicably, Johnson shot consecutive rounds of 75 on the weekend and literally his song stopped playing.
