The Japan Times - Thrill-a-minute DJ gets the crowds pumping at new Philippines event

The American known as "DJ", playing alongside home favourite Miguel Tabuena and Louis Oosthuizen, attracted the biggest galleries during the first round at Sta. Elena Golf Club, south of Manila.

They were treated to a drama-packed round of five-under 67 from Johnson sprinkled with two bogeys and a double bogey which left him three behind the first-day leader, Sarit Suwannarut of Thailand.

"Any time you make nine birdies, you know you hit a lot of really good shots," Johnson told reporters.

"Obviously one bad drive on 15 and ended up making double but other than that it was a really solid round," added the two-time major winner, who was playing in the Philippines for the first time.

"It was a good atmosphere. It was a lot of fun and we made a lot of birdies and we all made a few mistakes we probably shouldn't have, but that's golf."

Sarit took advantage of benign early morning conditions as he also shot nine birdies in his 64.

The Thai leads by one shot from Japan's Kazuki Higa, who had a flawless 65.

England's Richard Bland, Thailand's Chapchai Nirat and American duo Charles Porter and George Kneiser are tied for third after six-under-par rounds of 66.

Johnson, one of the big tournament draws with fellow major winners Patrick Reed, Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel, blasted out of the blocks with two birdies in his first three holes.

The 41-year-old was three-under after five and threatening to take the Sta. Elena Golf Club course apart.

Back-to-back bogeys at the sixth and seventh did little to cool Johnson's red-hot putter and the two-time major winner rolled in five more birdies in the next six holes.

The double bogey at 15 dropped him back to four-under, but he repaired some of the damage with a final birdie four at the par-five 16th to end in a share of seventh place.

In-form Sarit, who was fourth at last week's Macau Open, said: "I am excited to play with a lot of good players like Dustin Johnson, Patrick Reed, and a lot of the guys from LIV. So, just excited to play well."

Higa admitted he had exceeded his own expectations.

"A round of seven-under was a little better than what we planned to achieve when I set out in the morning," said the 30-year-old.

Reed, who will defend his Hong Kong Open title next week, could not get his putter in the groove with a two-under-par 70. Oosthuizen and fellow South African Schwartzel both carded 71.

The tournament has the most prestigious lineup ever assembled for a golf tournament in the Philippines and the biggest prize fund at $2 million.

It is the sixth of nine elevated International Series events on the Asian Tour in 2025 which are bankrolled by the Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf.

M.Fujitav--JT