'Number 1' Johnson "Fires 6-Under Par in Hometown"... An Byeonghun "Battles with 4-Under Par"

Palmetto Championship Day 1: Tied for 2nd Start, Loch Surprises with 7-Under Lead, 'Number 8' Kepka Stumbles at 1-Over

World No. 1 Dustin Johnson is pointing at the target on the 9th hole during the first round of the Palmetto Championship. Ridgeland, USA = Getty Images / Multivitz

[Asia Economy Golf Specialist Reporter Kim Hyun-jun] "6-under par storm shots."

World No. 1 Dustin Johnson (USA) showed strength for the first time in a while. On the 11th (Korean time), at the Palmetto Championship (total prize money $7.3 million) held at Congaree Golf Club in Ridgeland, South Carolina, USA (par 71, 7,655 yards), he shot 6-under par on the first day to tie for 2nd place. It is interesting that it is only a two-hour drive from his hometown Columbia. He is tuning his real-game shot sense ahead of the US Open, which begins its grand journey on the 17th.

Johnson collected six birdies. Starting at the 10th hole (par 4), he opened fire early with a birdie at the 15th hole (par 4), and added consecutive birdies at the 18th and the 1st hole of the back nine. Especially at the 15th hole, his 371-yard long drive stood out, and his 15-meter chip shot landed close to the hole. After adding birdies at the 3rd and 6th holes, he holed a 25-meter chip shot on the final 9th hole (par 4). Most notably, he maintained his score on all seven holes where he missed the green.

Johnson is the ‘new golf emperor’ who won three times in the 2020 season and also claimed the Masters, which was postponed to November due to COVID-19. However, this year he has been lackluster with only one top-10 finish in nine events. A knee injury has slowed him down. He missed the cut in two majors?the Masters in April and the PGA Championship in May?damaging his pride. Fortunately, his ‘stingy putting’ of 1.55 putts per hole revived today. He expressed hope that "the upward trend continues throughout this week."

Wes Roach (USA) surprised with a 7-under par lead, and Erik van Rooyen (South Africa) joined Johnson in the group tied for 2nd. Jonathan Vegas (Venezuela) is in 6th place with 5-under par. Korea’s An Byeong-hun (30, CJ Logistics) is performing well, tied for 7th at 4-under par with five birdies and one bogey. He has missed the cut 12 times in 22 tournaments this season, making a turnaround urgent. His only top-10 finish was a tie for 8th at the American Express in January.

‘Top favorite’ Ian Poulter (England) is tied for 19th at 3-under par, and No. 8 Brooks Koepka (USA) made it to the second round tied for 75th at 1-over par. Koepka won the Waste Management Phoenix Open in February, his first victory in 19 months, and has been in the spotlight after finishing runner-up consecutively in the World Golf Championships (WGC) Workday Championship in March and the PGA Championship in May. Im Sung-jae (23) finished tied for 125th at 4-over par.