Elements conspire to test Dustin Johnson’s mettle

No doubt Dustin Johnson slept soundly on Thursday night. 

An opening round of 65 not only left him leading The Open but with heavy rain forecasted for yesterday morning, he also had secured the best half of the draw.

No one, however, could have predicted the intensity of the rainfall yesterday morning and who knows what effect the playing delay of over three hours had on Johnson? Suddenly the roles were reversed, with the morning players getting the day’s best conditions while Johnson had to prepare for a late start that guaranteed the worsening weather conditions as well as an early Saturday morning resumption in order to complete his second round.