Day 1 in Blaine

Keep that card

Angus Flanagan: The safe bet is Flanagan, a 21-year-old Gophers golfer, will shoot better rounds in his blossoming career than the 2-over he carded Thursday. But it was his first round in a PGA Tour event, and one the young lad will remember forever — especially sticking it to 3 feet off the tee on the par-3 eighth hole.

Toss that card

Dustin Johnson: One. Two. Three shots attempted to clear the water on No. 18. One. Two. Three golf balls sunk to the bottom. The result was a quadruple-bogey 9 on the card, and nine holes later the world's No. 4 player withdrew with a back injury after signing for a 7-over 78.

Key hole

Par-4 9th, 502 yards: There were no easy pins to hit in Round 1, and the tucked upper position on No. 9 was a beast. It played more than a half-shot over par.

Chip shots

• Sangmoon Bae holed out for par on the 596-yard 18th hole — from 250 yards away after dunking two shots in the water.

• Aaron Crawford came to Minnesota expecting to caddie for Martin Trainer. Instead, Crawford got into the field via the Monday qualifier and on Thursday beat his boss by six strokes.

• Bo Van Pelt made a hole-in-one on the 195-yard, par-3 8th.

• Tyler McCumber (leg) withdrew during Round 1.

Quote of the day

"The putter was where it was at today. I saw my lines really well, I was really confident with my speed. I didn't have to work very hard for many pars."

— Michael Thompson, who hit all 18 greens in regulation and shot 7 under par, a stroke off the lead.

Tweet of the day

"Brendon de Jonge (five made cuts in the last three years) is up 11 on Dustin Johnson (six wins in the last three years) halfway through the first round. In case you didn't already think golf was the weirdest."

— @KylePorterCBS

Day 2

After a comfortable, low-wind opening round, players are in for a blast furnace Friday. An excessive heat warning is in effect, which could affect players in the later wave more than those who tee off in the morning. Golf Channel, 1:30 p.m.

Brian Stensaas