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Dustin Johnson shares BMW lead with Castro, looking to win again
Dustin Johnson had fallen off his remarkably consistent pace, and part of the reason was he wasn’t able to get putts started on his intended line. So, before the BMW Championship, Johnson made a switch in his TaylorMade putter, to a model similar to that of world No. 1 Jason Day.
Suddenly, Johnson can’t seem to miss.
On Friday, Johnson’s strong putting carried over from the opening round and catapulted him to a course record 9-under 63 at Crooked Stick in Carmel, Ind., and into a share of the lead with Roberto Castro at 14-under 130.
“I feel like I always read the greens very well, I always have good speed, I’m just hitting a lot more putts on my line and they’re going in,” Johnson said.
It helped that rains have softened the Pete Dye design, making it susceptible to good shotmaking, which Johnson has certainly done. When someone of his length is playing a complete game, it can be easier to get out of Johnson’s way rather than stand in his train tracks.
Castro isn’t Johnson. He’s never won in 125 PGA Tour starts. He’s not all that long. He’s not a sure thing to make the Tour Championship, which would be remarkable for the Georgia Tech product and come with a host of opportunities next season including berths in the first three majors. In other words, Castro may have to compete against one of a half-dozen guys on the PGA Tour that can reduce any course, including the lengthy Crooked Stick, to a pitch-and-putt, but he has every motivation to keep grinding.
“I think if you look at the tour, it sure helps to be long,” Castro said Friday after shooting a second consecutive 7-under 65. “But the guy who is striping it usually wins.”
And that’s what Castro is going on this weekend thinking he has to do to get to East Lake. In actuality, that’s not the case. The math works out that a top-three finish should do the job. However, Castro knows letting up might mean falling flat.
“You guys watch this tour every week, you play great get a chance to win, you got to finish it off,” he said. “So if you’re shooting for third or fourth, you’re probably not going to win.”
Johnson seemed to add a little doubt into Castro’s mind. After his 63, Johnson was asked if he would be nervous were he in Castro’s shoes, trying to chase down a first PGA Tour win on this stage. In his matter-of-fact, no-B.S. way, Johnson made it clear.
“Yeah, I would be,” he said. “For sure.”
Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.
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