The Players: World No 1 Dustin Johnson in six-way tie for lead

Dustin Johnson made a positive start in his bid to hold onto world No 1 status as he ended the first day of The Players Championship as part of a six-way share of the lead.

Johnson looked in cruise control in the benign early conditions at TPC Sawgrass, hitting 17 greens in regulation and converting six chances for birdies in a flawless 66, putting him in a great position to extend his 64-week stay at the top of the world rankings as several of his rivals struggled.

The 33-year-old, who has never finished higher than 12th in the tournament, is tied at the top with compatriots Webb Simpson, Matt Kuchar, Chesson Hadley and Patrick Cantlay, with Alex Noren interrupting the American dominance at the top of the leaderboard.

Justin Rose, who could take over as world No 1 with a victory on Sunday, is just two off the pace along with prospective Ryder Cup team-mates Henrik Stenson, Jon Rahm and Sergio Garcia, who held the lead outright until becoming one of many to find water at the 17th.

Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods scrambled hard to fire rounds of 71 and 72 respectively, but Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth both face tough battles to make the cut while Phil Mickelson looks set for an early exit after a disastrous finish which included three double-bogeys in four holes.

But there were no such problems for Johnson, who capped a superb back-nine 31 with a 35-foot putt for birdie at the 18th, although he added only one further gain at the second before parring home.

“I haven’t had the best record here, but it’s a golf course that I like, I enjoy playing and I feel like I should play well here,” he said. “I think a lot of it has to do with putting. I don’t think I putted very well around here, that’s one thing I’ve struggled with and obviously today I rolled it nicely.”

And, on his desire to stay world No 1 on Monday, he added: “Every week I know there’s a chance that someone can pass me. I definitely want to stay there, but if someone passes me it’s not going to change anything, I’m going to still go back to next week and try to get it back.

“So obviously this week if I play really well I’ll still be number one. If I don’t, someone’s going to pass me, which is okay. But I don’t care what people are talking about it, it doesn’t bother me. I just want to play good golf.”

Noren began his round with three straight birdies and also kept a bogey off his card as the Swede continued his impressive PGA Tour form this year, while Kuchar, Cantlay and Hadley were among a handful of players to get to seven under before late slips.

Veteran Steve Stricker, now 51, also shared the lead until he bogeyed his penultimate hole, while Rose led the British challenge on four under although he was a little frustrated at not building on a flying start, in which he followed a birdie at 11 with a superb eagle from just under 100 yards at the next.

Garcia, who lifted the crystal trophy 10 years ago, reeled off five consecutive birdies around the turn and jumped to seven under with another at 15, but his mistake at the 17th led to a five and he also bogeyed the last to slip into a share of 13th place.

Tommy Fleetwood (69), Ian Poulter (70) and Ross Fisher (70) all made encouraging starts, while McIlroy mixed four birdies with three bogeys in an erratic opener which left him five strokes off the pace.

Woods was two over early on before an eagle at the ninth lifted the spirits of his vast, adoring fans, and he managed to get under the card on the back nine before pulling his final tee shot into the water hazard before doing well to hole from 10 feet to save bogey.

Thomas, one of four players with a chance of replacing Johnson as world No 1, stumbled to a 73 although that was two shots better than Spieth, who bogeyed his first two holes, eagled the 12th, and then double-bogeyed the 13th.

Mickelson, meanwhile, will need something special on Friday to avoid a weekend off after his horror run down the stretch, dropping seven shots in only four holes before he parred the last to break 80.

(c) Sky News 2018: The Players: World No 1 Dustin Johnson in six-way tie for lead