Hideki Matsuyama of Japan leads the BMW Championship, but the story of the first round in the second event in the PGA Tour playoffs was the North Course at Olympia Fields Country Club outside Chicago.
The 28-year-old Matsuyama carded a score of 3-under-par 67 to take a one-stroke lead over Tyler Duncan as the course played like a U.S. Open layout, which it was when Jim Furyk claimed the title there in 2003 with a score of 8-under.
But Matsuyama had the last word, sinking a 65-foot putt while finishing at No. 9 for his fourth birdie on the back nine.
“I’m not sure really what I had going today, but that last putt, the long putt that went in, very happy with that one,” said Matsuyama, who has won five times on the PGA Tour, but not since the 2017 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. “So we’ll remember that one.
“I made some mistakes early but I was able to come back and play good golf toward the end, so it was a good day. The greens were firm and playing really tough. There’s some water holes that you’ve got to avoid, but all in all, I played good and was able to stay out of trouble.”
Only the top 70 players in the FedEx Cup entering the week are in the field, with only the top 30 making it to the Tour Championship next week at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, where the 2020 FedEx Cup champion will be crowned.
Duncan, whose only PGA Tour victory came in the 2019 RSM Classic, birdied the first two holes, made his only bogey at No. 12 and sank a 14-foot birdie putt on the 14th hole en route to his 68, while Mackenzie Hughes of Canada was the only other player under par in third at 67.
“It was a grind,” admitted Duncan, who got up-and-down from a greenside bunker for a brilliant par save by sinking an eight-foot par putt on the last hole. “I’ve only played in two U.S. Opens, but that’s what it was like.
“I drove the ball well and scrambled well, and that will be the two most important factors this week to perform well. The course is firm and fast, the rough is long, so it’s all you want.”
Fourth-ranked Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland, the defending FedEx Cup champion who also claimed the Cup in 2016, shot 70 and is tied for fourth with Billy Horschel, the 2014 FedEx Cup winner, Tony Finau, Lanto Griffin, Sebastian Munoz of Colombia, Harry Higgs, Abraham Ancer of Mexico, Mark Hubbard of San Jose State, Matthew Fitzpatrick of England and Carlos Ortiz of Mexico.
Top-ranked Dustin Johnson, the Fed Ex Cup points leader who won The Northern Trust last week to open the playoffs, is tied for 14th at 71, while two-time FedEx Cup champion Tiger Woods totaled 73 and is in a tie for 35th that includes third-ranked Justin Thomas, the 2017 FedEx champ, eight-ranked Bryson DeChambeau of Clovis, ninth-ranked Patrick Reed and 10th-ranked Xander Schauffele of La Jolla and San Diego State.
Second-ranked Jon Rahm of Spain is tied for 51st at 75, while fifth-ranked Collin Morikawa, the PGA champion from La Canada Flintridge and Cal, struggled to a 77 and is tied for 60th.
For complete results, visit https://www.pgatour.com/leaderboard.html
