Dustin Johnson shoots a flawless eight-under 63 to lead after Day 1 of LIV Singapore

SINGAPORE – Just last week, Dustin Johnson suffered his worst performance at a LIV Golf event, placing last out of 54 golfers in the circuit’s Hong Kong tournament as he was afflicted by an injury that affected his swing.

However, the two-time Major winner did not show any signs of discomfort at the Sentosa Golf Club on March 14, displaying impressive form as he carded a bogey-free eight-under 63 to hold a three-stroke lead after the opening day of LIV Singapore.

Colombia’s Sebastian Munoz was second with a five-under 66, while eight others, including defending champion Brooks Koepka, Jon Rahm and Cameron Smith, are a stroke behind on 67.

When asked if anything had changed between Hong Kong and Singapore, Johnson said: “No, nothing changed. I actually had really good practice leading into Hong Kong, and then it felt like I was swinging real well.

“I woke up Friday (March 7) morning and I don’t know if it was a rib out or something was in my right shoulder, and then I wasn’t swinging really well on Friday and Saturday.”

Elaborating on the injury, the American said it left him unable to turn his head to the right, impacting the follow-through in his swing and resulting in him hitting everything towards the left.

But his condition gradually improved over the week. After rounds of five-over 75 and 72, the former world No. 1 finished with a 64.

He added: “I swung a little bit better on Sunday. Nothing changed, other than I feel like I’m swinging a little better and my body is moving better.”

At Sentosa’s Serapong Course on March 14, Johnson, who teed off on hole No. 3 in the shotgun start, racked up four birdies in his first 11 holes, before sinking a 60-foot birdie putt on the par-three 14th to join compatriot Jason Kokrak at the top of the leaderboard.

Yet another birdie on the 16th saw Johnson claim the sole lead, a position he did not relinquish.

The extra work that the 40-year-old had put into his putting over the past few days seemed to pay off, as he drained another long effort on hole No. 2 to record the last of eight birdies for a comfortable lead going into the second round.

On what went well, he said: “Kind of everything. Obviously when you shoot eight under, you’ve got to be doing everything well.

“But I drove it well, hit a lot of really nice iron shots, and then holed a few putts.

“The greens are really good, so as long as you kind of get it in the range where you can hit good putts, they’re going in.”

An excellent first round at Sentosa puts him in a good position to continue a streak of winning at least an event every season since he joined LIV Golf from the PGA Tour in 2022.

He said: “Especially with the strength of field that we have out here, it’s really hard to win.

“Anytime you can get a win, no matter when it is, it’s always good. Winning every single year I’ve been on tour, obviously I’m really proud of it, just as far as keeping my game at a high level for such a long period of time.”

A win in Singapore would also earn Johnson the winner’s cheque of US$4 million (S$5.3 million).

His team 4Aces GC are also in contention for the US$3 million winners’ prize as they lead the team standings at 14-under 270, two strokes ahead of Torque GC, captained by Joaquin Niemann.

Seeking his first win on the breakaway series is Torque’s Munoz, who has come close this season, finishing tied-second and joint-sixth in Riyadh and Hong Kong respectively.

The 32-year-old said: “It’s been a really strong start for me this year. I feel like I’m doing a good job mentally of not getting frustrated even though I’ve had a couple good chances.

“I’m just in a good place mentally... We’re working on it, and it’s still not easy, but we’re a lot closer.”