LA QUINTA, Calif. — Zach Johnson embraced the pressure of being the U.S. Ryder Cup captain last year, even if the experience didn’t go the way anybody on his team hoped.
A few months later, Johnson is past all the pressure and the second-guessing — and those newly lightened shoulders might have been a factor in his sizzling round to start The American Express.
Johnson made seven of his 10 birdies on the front nine on the way to a 10-under 62 and a share of the lead with Sweden's Alex Noren after the first round in the Coachella Valley on Thursday.
Johnson's 29 on the front nine was the lowest nine-hole score in his 493 career PGA Tour starts, and he needed only 10 putts to do it. He credited his strong start partly to an offseason of focused preparation after his release from the demands of the Ryder Cup captaincy.
''Put a lot of good work in as of late,'' Johnson said. ''Actually been a lot of normal golf work, given what happened last year, with what I was responsible for, which was awesome. Now it's time to get back to work. I've enjoyed the work. I've enjoyed the sweat.''
Postcard-perfect desert conditions and the straightforward nature of this tournament's three courses unsurprisingly led to low scores from some of the world's top players. Several members of Johnson's unsuccessful Ryder Cup team are in The American Express field, but the 2007 Masters champ outdid them all to start.
Rico Hoey and Christiaan Bezuidenhout are one shot back of the leaders, and 22 golfers shot 65 or better, including Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele, Justin Thomas, Australia's Min Woo Lee and former champion Si Woo Kim.
Johnson made six consecutive birdies to close out his front nine at La Quinta Country Club. He added three more birdies down the stretch, getting the 47-year-old off to a bogey-free start in his quest for his first PGA Tour victory since the 2015 British Open.
