Three-Way Race for Golf's No. 1 Ranking
Phil Mickelson isn't the only player capable of going to No. 1 in the world this week.
According to early projections from the Official World Golf Ranking, Steve Stricker can become No. 1 for the first time in his career if he were to win the Deutsche Bank Championship, Tiger Woods finished out of the top nine and Mickelson was out of top three. Stricker is the defending champion at the TPC Boston.
Deutsche Bank Championship Leaderboard
FedEx Cup Standings
Who Will Win PGA Player of Year?
Mickelson will try for the 10th time this year to topple Woods in the ranking. That would require a victory; runner-up with Woods out of the top 3; third place with Woods out of the top nine or fourth place with Woods out of the top 24, provided Stricker doesn't win.
Woods has been No. 1 for the last 273 weeks, dating to the week before the 2005 U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2.
Meanwhile, at the Deutsche Bank Friday, Zach Johnson and Jason Day beat up on the course and beat the weather.
Johnson strengthened his case as a Ryder Cup pick my rolling in putts from everywhere in easy scoring conditions ahead of Hurricane Earl, giving him an 8-under 63 to share the early lead with Day.
They finished right before play was suspended for 1½ hours when the first remnants of Earl arrived.
The delay didn't help Woods. Even with the tee boxes moved forward and the pins in favorable spots in case of high wind and rain late in the round, Woods made four bogeys on his opening six holes and was in last place.
He needs a solid week just to get to the BMW Championship next week, the third round of these FedEx Cup playoffs.
That's not an issue for Johnson. His hopes this week start with the Ryder Cup, knowing that Corey Pavin will announce his four captain's picks on Tuesday in New York.
Most players believe Johnson is in good shape to get one of the picks, and opening with a 63 certainly didn't hurt.
"It would been an honor, and I want to get on that team very, very bad," Johnson said. "But you can justify the case for a number of guys. I'm not concerned about it. I'm going to let things fall where they fall. I feel like if I keep performing decent, then I'll have a pretty good chance."
Day, the 36-hole leader last week at The Barclays, shot 30 on the back nine for his 63.
Among early starters, they had a one-shot lead over seven players, including Ryder Cup hopeful Ryan Palmer and Rory McIlroy, who made eagle on his last hole.
Defending champion Stricker was in the group at 65.
One thing was clear under a gray sky south of Boston - the early starters caught a big break. Even under conditions that were calm and dry, players were allowed to lift, clean and place their golf balls in the fairway. The tour had to do that in case the first round was not completed Friday and the course turned into a swamp overnight.
Combine that with the shorter tees and accessible pins, and birdies were easy to find.
"There's a lot of deep scores out there," Day said. "It was out there today. Hopefully, this thing can blow through and not hit us to hard. But I'll probably try and putt his round behind me and just focus on the next round."
What makes Johnson so appealing as a captain's pick is his short game, and that was evident Friday.
He chipped in from behind the 10th green for birdie on his opening hole, made a 30-foot birdie on the 11th, and his day got even better when he holed a 35-foot birdie on the 17th over a knob on the green. He made two birdies on the par 5s with his wedge game and hit his best shot on the par-3 eighth, a 6-iron to about 6 feet.
"This is probably the easiest this golf can play," Johnson said. "So I'm not taking anything for granted right now. I'm excited about the remainder of the week."