U.S. Open is Dustin Johnson's to win … or lose

OAKMONT, Pa. — Dustin Johnson comes to every major trying to exorcise the demons. And if he needed a reminder of his mission Friday, all he had to do was look to his playing partner, Sergio Garcia, for a reminder.

The USGA likes to have fun with its pairings come U.S. Open time. They've had the pleasantly plump pairing. They had the short-name long-name pairing Friday (Na, Kim and Aphibarnrat). DJ's was the best-players-never-to-have-won-majors pairing.

Garcia is as famous for that as he is his enthusiasm. The wonder kid who almost won the PGA Championship as a 19-year-old in 1999 has finished second three other times in majors.

What Sergio was to the majors in the 2000s, Johnson is to the 2010s.

Multiple heartbreaks, grueling at times. Painful and unfortunate, too.

He went to the 18th at the 2010 PGA with a one-stroke lead only to wind up fifth after he infamously hit a ball out of a hazard, incurring a 2-stroke penalty. He was charging toward the lead in the 2011 British Open, when he shanked a drive out of bounds, leading to double bogey and a second-place finish. And of course he had the eagle putt on 18 to win last year's U.S. Open at Chambers Bay, only to miss it and then the next one, giving the trophy to Jordan Spieth.

It would have only been natural for those thoughts to run through his head Friday in the midst of a 36-hole, weather-induced marathon, one that started at 9:06 a.m. and didn't end until 8:43 p.m., with Johnson in prime position.

After a 3-under Round 1, putting him one off the lead set by the heretofore unheard of Andrew Landry, Johnson and Co. were offered a 40-or-so-minute respite before they were called to action again. And he responded, with par after par after par, which could have been birdie after birdie after birdie.

Hole after hole, Johnson put himself in position to go lower, and hole after hole, he barely missed. You count your blessings at Oakmont, take what it will give you, but when the U.S. Open is there for the taking and you know birdie opportunities are going to be fleeting as the course toughens over the weekend, you'd like to take advantage when you can.

On 17 (Johnson started on the back nine) he had a 10-footer for birdie that lipped out. He burned the edge on 18, settling for another par. On No. 4, he just missed a 7-footer. Then another near-miss at No. 5 before finally dropping one at No. 6 to move him to 4-under and a share of the lead.

"I hit so many good putts that I thought were going in, but that's just how it goes," Johnson said. "These greens are tough."

Tough enough that the Big Three of Jason Day, Spieth and Rory McIlroy finished Round 1 in a combined 15-over par.

When play starts again Saturday morning around 7 a.m., with more than half the field needing to finish or start their Round 2, Johnson will see his name atop the leaderboard, just above Landry, the 624th-ranked player in the world, who's scheduled to tee off at 7:11 a.m., and two shots ahead of Garcia.

The tournament, at this point, is Johnson's to lose, a place he knows well, and a place he's trying to forget.

Down the stretch today, was what happened at Chambers Bay weighing on your mind? Johnson was asked after his round Friday night.

"What happened last year?" Johnson deadpanned.

It's a start.