LAKE FOREST, Ill. – Sixteen years later, Zach Johnson posted a much-improved first-round score at Conway Farms.
Johnson was one of the few players who had toured the 7,100-yard Tom Fazio design before the PGA Tour came to town. While at Drake, he shot rounds of 81-69 at the 1997 NCAA Championship.
“At that time,” he said, “it was one of the best courses I’d ever seen. It was pretty intimidating back then.”
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Not so Thursday, when Johnson shot a bogey-free, 7-under 64 to sit one shot off the lead at the BMW Championship. It continued a months-long stretch of superb play for Johnson, who has five top-8 finishes in his last six starts.
“I’m just really trying to remain patient because I’ve been so high on my game for so long,” Johnson said, “that it’s just a matter of sticking to that patient sort of attitude and mentality because I’ve been so close, so often over the past two or three months.”