Tiger Woods rubs his neck while on the driving range prior to his opening round Thursday at The Northern Trust golf tournament in Norton, Mass. Woods shot a 3-under 68 and was four strokes behind the leaders in the first event of the FedEx Cup playoffs. Charles Krupa/Associated Press
NORTON, Mass. — Harris English made the difficult look easy Thursday in The Northern Trust, just like he has done all year to even reach this position in the PGA Tour’s postseason.
Facing the tough stretch on the back nine at TPC Boston to start his round, English hit 5-iron on the 11th and 12th holes, both of them to about 8 feet for birdies. He followed with two long birdie putts to run his streak to four, and finished at 7-under 64.
By the end of the opening round, English shared the lead with Kevin Streelman, Cameron Davis and Russell Henley, who finished with a tap-in eagle.
Harris English hits his tee shot on the 17th hole Thursday during the first round of The Northern Trust golf tournament in Norton, Mass. English was part of a four-way tie for the lead after a 7-under 64. Charles Krupa/Associated Press
Good starts were important to so many in the FedEx Cup playoffs, which are as much about avoiding elimination as winning. The top 70 in points from the 122-man field move on to next week for another $9.5 million event. The goal then is to reach the top 30 for the Tour Championship and its $15 million prize to the winner.
Tiger Woods opened with a 68, with five birdies over his last 10 holes.
Of the top 11 players who were separated by one shot after the first round, five of them began the week outside the top 70, with Bubba Watson on the bubble at No. 66.
English doesn’t face that dilemma at the moment. His good start was 11 months ago when he began the season for the first time in his career without a full PGA Tour card. That was due to a slump that had him chasing after a swing that wasn’t his own, leading to six lean years without winning.
He parlayed conditional status into five top 10s before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down golf for three months, and then he resumed his steady play to reach No. 27 in the FedEx Cup standings entering the playoffs.
Now he’s more interested in where he could be going instead of how far he has come.
“I’m not satisfied with just barely being inside the Tour Championship,” he said. “I want to make a move up the ranks and have a chance at lifting the FedEx Cup, which we all think about the whole year. … It’s been a lot of work. But I feel like I’m ready for it to jump up and have a chance at winning some tournaments.”
Streelman made two early birdies and then holed out from 154 yards for eagle on the 15th hole. He had one of nine birdies on the 213-yard eighth hole to tie for the lead.
Davis was at 8 under until a bogey on No. 8, his penultimate hole. He is at No. 102 in the FedEx Cup standings.
Among those at 65 were Louis Oosthuizen, Charley Hoffman and Scott Piercy, all well outside the top 70. Sebastian Munoz began his round with seven straight birdies to quickly tie for the lead, only to make double bogey on No. 9 and record only one birdie the rest of the way.
“Not really a disappointment,” Munoz said. “It’s golf.”
Oosthuizen is No. 99 in the standings, while Hoffman is at No. 111 and Piercy at No. 119. All three likely need to finish in the top 15 to advance to the BMW Championship next week.
Oosthuizen and his sweet swing barely made it to East Lake last year. Now he has work to do, and he brought a different style of playing knowing that.
“I need a good week to get to next week, and then I need an even better week to get to Atlanta,” he said. “It’s a little more attack in the game, a little bit more aggressive. I think by Sunday you’ll know exactly in what position you are, and it might be a case of going at pins that you might not normally do. But up until Sunday, I think I’m just going to play the normal game see where I’m at when I get there.”
Justin Thomas, the No. 1 seed, opened with a 68. Collin Morikawa, in his first start since winning the PGA Championship, twice made bogey on par 5s and had a 71, leaving him outside the cut line – rare territory for him – going into Friday.
Woods is at No. 49 and hopes to play four out of the next five weeks, taking him to East Lake and through the U.S. Open. He didn’t make a birdie until his ninth hole, but finished with the five birdies over the last 10 holes. Woods went back to his old putter – the one he has used for 14 of his 15 major championships. His bigger issue was getting it close enough to have reasonable birdie chances. Those came at the end.
Phil Mickelson, meanwhile, was in danger of missing the BMW Championship for the first time since the FedEx Cup playoffs began in 2007. He came in at No. 67 and opened with a 74.
WOMEN’S BRITISH OPEN: The opening round of the first women’s major of a pandemic-affected year was a slog for many of the world’s biggest names at Royal Troon on Thursday, but not for Amy Olson. The American was the only player to shoot below 70 in what some said was a four-club wind on the famous links in Troon. Scotland, and her 4-under 67 gave her a three-stroke lead.
“It was the best ball-striking day of my life,” said Olson, who grew up hitting a low ball in strong winds in North Dakota, standing her in good stead for links play. “But I can’t even describe how difficult it was out there.”
Only two others in the 144-player field – Sophia Popov of Germany and Marina Alex of the United States – shot under par, both with rounds of 70.
“It was brutal,” said Popov, who was playing in 117 degrees in Arizona last week and only arrived in Scotland on Tuesday.
Danielle Kang would agree. The highest-ranked competitor at Troon this week finished eagle-birdie-birdie just to shoot 76 along with defending champion Hinako Shibuno of Japan.
CHAMPIONS TOUR: Shane Bertsch shot his second straight 7-under 64 to take a four-stroke lead into the final round of the Charles Schwab Series at Bass Pro Shops Big Cedar Lodge at Ridgedale, Missouri.
Bernhard Langer had a 64 to move into a tie for second at 10 under with Kenny Perry (65) and Wes Short Jr. (66).
EUROPEAN TOUR: Sam Horsfield began his bid for a third title in four starts by shooting 2-over 73 in the first round of the Wales Open, leaving him seven strokes off the lead held by Jordan Smith and Connor Syme.
Horsfield won the Hero Open three weeks ago for his first professional title and followed that up with victory at the Celtic Classic on Sunday.
Back at the same Celtic Manor course four days later for the latest event in the tour’s U.K. Swing, Horsfield birdied three of his first five holes but then bogeyed four of his next five. He also had a double-bogey 6 at the 15th.
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