clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile
SBNation.com homepage

Filed under:

PGA Championship leaderboard: Dustin Johnson back on top at Whistling Straits

A familiar name is back on top of a 2015 major championship leaderboard.

By Brendan Porath
Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

It's Thursday at a major championship so that must mean Dustin Johnson is on top of the leaderboard. While he doesn't have the wins like some of his peers, DJ is arguably the most talented player in the world. It's no surprise to have him keep popping up at the top of these boards early at major championships, and on the weekend, too.

He started his PGA Championship at Whistling Straits, site of that controversial 2010 sand trap misfortune, going out with a 4-under 32 on his first nine. Johnson has a distance advantage over everyone in the field, and we keep hearing at almost every major venue how much that helps his chances. The same goes for Whistling Straits and we know it's a course where he's succeeded in the past. He started his championship with back-to-back birdies on his opening holes, then moved to the top of the board by pouring in a 27-foot eagle putt at the 16th.

His first competitive trip back to the 18th, site of that awful bunker ruling in 2010, went much smoother this time, starting with a tee shot that left no doubt about his lie.

A par completed the outward 32, and he added two more red numbers on the first two holes of his second nine to get all the way to 6-under. A bogey dropped him back into a share of the lead with Thomas Bjorn.

With the course softened up a bit and the wind down Thursday morning, the scores were going to be low. There are birdie opportunities on almost every hole and most of the top talent in the early wave are taking advantage. Hideki Matsuyama, Jason Day, Matt Kuchar and Rickie Fowler are all under par and trending toward to the top of the board. As for DJ, well:

Here's the early leaderboard on Thursday:

Place Player Score Thru
T1 Thomas Bjorn -5 16
T1 Dustin Johnson -5 12*
T3 Russell Henley -4 16
T3 Matt Kuchar -4 16*
T3 Harris English -4 12
T3 Jason Day -4 12*
T3 Anirban Lahiri -4 10
T8 Hideki Matsuyama -3 17*
T8 Brendan Steele -3 17*
T8 Charles Howell III -3 16
T8 James Morrison -3 15
T8 Paul Casey -3 14*
T8 J.B. Holmes -3 12
T8 Danny Lee -3 11
T8 Martin Kaymer -3 12*
T8 Marc Warren -3 11*
T8 Matt Jones -3 10
T18 Rory Sabbatini -2 17
T18 Robert Streb -2 16
T18 Sergio Garcia -2 15*
T18 Justin Rose -2 14*
T18 Ernie Els -2 13*
T18 Rickie Fowler -2 12*
T18 Branden Grace -2 11
T18 Francesco Molinari -2 11*
T26 Chesson Hadley -1 17
T26 Brian Gaffney -1 17*
T26 Louis Oosthuizen -1 15*
T26 Thongchai Jaidee -1 14
T26 Brandt Snedeker -1 14*
T26 Lee Westwood -1 13*
T26 Mikko Ilonen -1 12
T26 Tony Finau -1 11
T26 Morgan Hoffmann -1 10
T26 Carl Pettersson -1 11*
T26 Tyrrell Hatton -1 10*
T26 J.J. Henry -1 9
T38 David Howell E 17
T38 John Daly E 16*
T38 Bill Haas E 15*
T38 Ryan Moore E 14
T38 James Hahn E 12
T38 Hunter Mahan E 13*
T38 Martin Laird E 9*
T45 Pat Perez 1 17*
T45 Charl Schwartzel 1 16*
T45 Stephen Gallacher 1 14
T45 Geoff Ogilvy 1 14*
T45 Vijay Singh 1 13
T45 Bubba Watson 1 13*
T45 Jim Furyk 1 14*
T45 Ross Fisher 1 12
T45 Brent Snyder 1 10*
T45 Brendon Todd 1 10*
T45 Brian Harman 1 9
T56 David Hearn 2 17*
T56 Boo Weekley 2 17
T56 Byeong Hun An 2 15
T56 Victor Dubuisson 2 16*
T56 Tiger Woods 2 12*
T56 Steven Young 2 10
T56 Adam Rainaud 2 9
T56 Fabian Gomez 2 10*
T64 Matt Dobyns 3 16*
T64 Colin Montgomerie 3 16*
T64 Ryan Palmer 3 15
T64 Keegan Bradley 3 11*
T64 Matt Every 3 10
T69 Ryan Helminen 4 17
T69 Grant Sturgeon 4 17
T69 Johan Kok 4 17*
T69 David Toms 4 13
T69 Jeff Olson 4 9*
74 Charley Hoffman 5 15
T75 Jamie Donaldson 6 13
T75 Brian Cairns 6 10
T77 Austin Peters 9 17
T77 Mark Brooks 9 13

In This Stream

PGA Championship 2015: Updates and scores from Thursday's 1st round

View all 16 stories

Next Up In Golf