NORTH PLAINS — As Dustin Johnson followed through his first swing of the day, his face twisted into a grimace. He shouted “fore right,” warning onlookers of a mishit shot. Yet his ball settled in the fairway — and about 300 yards away from the tee box.
Two swings later, after his chip shot from just short of the green on the 630-yard, par-5 first hole came up about 15 feet short of the hole, Johnson glared at the face of his wedge, as if it might be faulty. He still drained the ensuing putt for a birdie that moved him into a tie for the lead.
It would be the first of several for Johnson. The two-time major champion caught fire during the first half of Friday’s second round of the LIV Golf Portland Invitational at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club. Johnson birdied six of the first nine holes, including five in a six-hole stretch. He made the turn at 9 under par for the tournament and ultimately finished at 8 under, tied with Carlos Ortiz for the lead with 18 holes to play.
The birdie spree came in typical Johnson fashion, as he overpowered the course. On each of the two par 5s on the front nine — both of which played more than 620 yards — he simply had to chip up and down for birdie. He recorded three straight birdies on holes 7, 8 and 9, each time finding the fairway off the tee and leaving himself a wedge into the green, allowing him to stick his ball close to the pin.
Keeping the putting distance to a minimum was key for Johnson, who made back-to-back bogeys on holes 13 and 14 when he three-putted both greens. He said after the round that he’s playing his best golf of the year. He’s yet to notch a top-10 finish in a non-LIV stroke play event this season.
“I feel like I’m playing really well right now,” he said. “Obviously gave a few shots away there on 13, 14 and 16, but other than that, it was really nice.”
The red-hot streak showed why LIV Golf reportedly shelled out $125 million to poach Johnson from the PGA Tour. At 38, Johnson is still one of the game’s longest hitters, and he’s capable of making birdies in bunches.
And having name brands like Johnson play well is crucial for the upstart league that is still light on quality depth.
Most of the headlines about LIV Golf have centered around the fact that it’s bankrolled by the Public Investment Fund, the sovereign wealth fund of a Saudi Arabian government that has been accused of numerous human rights abuses. But the new tour’s biggest hurdle to achieving relevance is more likely the quality of its product on the course.
An informal canvas of fans in attendance at Pumpkin Ridge (an admittedly biased sample) didn’t reveal anyone who seemed bothered by the source of LIV Golf’s generous purses. They showed up to be entertained by the players, particularly the ones they already knew.
One fan who drove from Spokane said he spent Thursday’s round following Phil Mickelson, despite the fact that the 52-year-old has never been under par during this tournament. He’s currently 6 over, tied for 36th. Mark Pattalochi watched the leaders putt on the ninth green and tee off on No. 10, then decided to wait about 30 minutes so he could see Bryson DeChambeau, currently five shots off the lead, hit a tee shot.
“I haven’t seen Dustin Johnson and Bryson (before today),” Pattalochi said. “I want to see Bryson hit a driver.”
It looked briefly like another one of LIV Golf’s biggest names would join Johnson near the top of the leaderboard. Four-time major champion Brooks Koepka started the day 2 under par but quickly dropped back to even when his tee shot on the third hole (his second of the day) found the water, leading to a double bogey. Midway through the round, he trailed Johnson by seven shots.
Koepka fought his way back up the leaderboard. He birdied the 15th and 16th holes, then made eagle on the par-5 17th. However, his approach on No. 18 once again found the water, leading to a bogey. He finished his round with a double-bogey seven on the par-5 first hole, dropping him to 4 under for the tournament, tied for fifth.
Entering the event, Koepka and DeChambeau were the most hyped of seven former PGA players who jumped to LIV Golf after the league’s inaugural event in London. The least heralded was Ortiz, the only one who didn’t speak during a pre-tournament news conference. Even after he held the lead Thursday night, it would be easy to make the argument that Ortiz was overshadowed in his playing group Friday not just by Johnson, but by Johnson’s wife, Paulina Gretzky. More fans seemed interested in snapping selfies with the actress and daughter of hockey legend Wayne Gretzky when she stopped by the ninth tee box than watching Ortiz hit his drive.
Yet Ortiz withstood Johnson’s birdie barrage on the front nine and used his putting prowess to keep a share of the lead entering the final round.
Ortiz’s most impressive putt came on the seventh hole. After Johnson bombed a drive down the center of the fairway and stuck a wedge less than five feet from the hole, Ortiz holed a curving putt from about 20 feet for a birdie of his own. On the 18th, Ortiz drained a putt of similar length to reclaim a share of the lead.
“(Johnson) was playing great,” Ortiz said. “I don’t know why, but when somebody is playing good in your group, it’s easy for everybody else to start catching up. When we were playing OK and then he started making birdies, Pat (Perez) started making birdies, I started making birdies. So we were rooting for him, keep going so we can all keep going.”
Friday didn’t squelch the concerns about the quality of the LIV Golf fields. But, for the most part, the big names are pulling their weight in Portland. Of the 16 players currently under par, 12 have won at least one PGA Tour event.
The two at the top, one well-known and the other not, are well situated to provide some on-course drama, for a change, during the event’s final day.
— Mitchell Forde for The Oregonian/OregonLive