At the LIV Golf Chicago event on Friday, Dustin Johnson picked up where he left off a few weeks ago at the LIV Golf Boston event, where he claimed his first title. Shooting an opening round of 63, D.J. leads Cam Smith by three strokes going into Round 2 on Saturday. He also helped his team, 4 Aces, to a total of 11 under, which puts them in line for what would be their fourth consecutive team win.

Johnson, who started on the first hole on Thursday, went out in 30 and only missed one or two shots over the five hours of play in Round 1. With a chance at 59 lingering, he stalled out a bit in the end but was still pleased with his performance, despite playing the last six holes in just 1-under par.

“I struck the ball really well obviously … it was really solid all day,” said Johnson. “Hit it really close. I didn’t have many long putts, but I holed a lot of putt inside 10 feet. I struck it really, really well today.”

When D.J. gets hot, this is what he does. He has the tendency to rip off multiple events in a row no matter where he’s playing or whom he’s playing against. This happened most notably back in 2017 when he won three straight tournaments leading into the Masters before withdrawing from the first major of the year with an injury. He was asked after his round Friday how he was maintaining such a high level of play despite probably playing less competitive golf than he’s ever played in his life (Johnson has played just six times since the PGA Championship in May).

“Right now I feel like I got my swing in a nice groove,” he said. “For me, as long as I hit a couple balls every other day then I can keep it there. Right now, I’m just swinging really well. Fortunately, I’m keeping it going.”

In addition to Johnson’s score, the 4 Aces also counted Talor Gooch’s 2-under number and lead the Punch GC squad — which counted Cam Smith’s -6 and Matt Jones’ -4 — by a single stroke going into the second round.

And if it’s Johnson who is the hottest LIV player going right now, it’s Smith who has been the best LIV player all year, albeit mostly on the PGA Tour and in the major championships. After winning the Tournament of Champions, Players Championship and Open Championship at the Old Course in July, Smith moved over to LIV Golf and finished T4 in his first event in Boston behind D.J. and two other players.

While Smith doesn’t have the beautiful game of Johnson when it comes to ball-striking, he’s been a better scorer throughout the entire year. Whether that’s enough to overcome a three-stroke deficit and the machine-like ball-striking performance D.J. has been putting on of late remains to be seen, but Smith has his Punch GC squad in position to end the mini-run the 4 Aces have been on and get his first post-PGA Tour victory at Rich Harvest Farms this weekend.

Regardless of what you think about LIV, the PGA Tour or the ongoing feud between the two, we can all agree that a Smith-Johnson battle over the weekend would be a delight. The towering, effortless game of a two-time major champion in Johnson facing off against the biggest “he’s got that dog in him” player alive today in Smith. A battle for the ages in the fifth LIV event of the year? Probably not, but the golf should still be great.

Leaderboard

1. Dustin Johnson: -9
2. Cam Smith: -6
3. Matthew Wolff: -5
T4. Charles Howell III: -4
T4. Matt Jones: -4
T4. Henrik Stenson: -4
T4. Lee Westwood: -4

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A Model To Fit Every Golfer
Golfers can choose from high-MOI multi-material blades, mid-mallets and mallets. Traditional blades include the Anser and the Kushin 4 – both originally designed by PING founder Karsten Solheim – and the new Anser 2D. The new Mundy design, a multi-material traditionally shaped mallet, is named in honor of PING’s first business manager and long-time employee, Jack Mundy. The tour-proven DS72 and Prime Tyne 4 return with a new look and feel while ensuring the performance that’s earned them multiple trips to the winner’s circle in the last few years. Another new entrant to the mallet category is the Tyne G, a hybrid of the original Tyne and popular Fetch (complete with a ball-pickup feature). All three stroke types (Straight, Slight, Strong) are represented within the 10-model range.

Technology You Can Feel
From firm milled faces to soft-feeling inserts, the face technology is engineered based on feedback from Ping’s tour staff to match a variety of feel preferences and deliver control and consistency on putts of every length. Two face milling techniques, smooth (firmest) or shallow, are found in seven of the models while the rest deliver the soft feel of our PEBAX insert surrounded by the smooth or shallow milling.

Aligned For Accuracy
The new putters offer a variety of alignment aids. Single alignment cues or multiple lines combine with colour blocking to match a golfer’s eye. The use of platinum and matte-black finishes in several models provides enhanced contrast while creating a premium appearance. For golfers who prefer the simplicity and influence of a matte-black look, the Anser 2D, Mundy and Tyne G will best fit their eye.

Here’s an overview of the new line up…

Anser
The most successful putter in history is updated using tungsten toe-heel weights to provide stability and forgiveness, and the shallow milled face delivers a firmer feel and consistent ball speed with pleasing acoustics. Employs color blocking where the platinum topline contrasts with the black cavity, drawing focus to the front of the putter for improved aiming.

Anser 2D
Made popular by multiple-time winner Tony Finau, a PEBAX insert with shallow milled surround ensures a softer feel and consistent ball speed with pleasing acoustics. Tungsten toe-heel weights provide stability and forgiveness, a single white alignment line contrasts with the matte-black head, and a ball-width cavity floor help frame the ball to make aligning to the target easier.

Kushin 4
Tungsten toe and heel weights provide stability and forgiveness for improved accuracy, and the shallow milled face ensures a firmer feel and consistent ball speed with pleasing acoustics. A platinum topline contrasts against a black cavity to draw the focus forward, where a short alignment line and ball-width cavity floor frame the ball. Fits a strong-arc stroke type.

Shea
Forgiveness is high in the mid-mallets, aided by tungsten toe-heel weights to ensure stability, while the shallow milled face delivers a firmer feel and consistent ball speed with pleasing acoustics. A platinum topline contrasted against a black cavity with its longer alignment line draws the focus forward, and the ball-width cavity floor helps frame the ball.

DS72
Named in honour of Doug Sanders, who served as Karsten’s chief engineer for many years, the DS72 has a shallow milled face to deliver a firmer feel and consistent ball speed with pleasing acoustics. A platinum topline contrasts against the black cavity where a white alignment line and ball-width cavity floor focus the eye. The more squared off will be aesthetically pleasing to the mid-mallet player. Fit for straight and slight-arc stroke types.

DS72 C
The centre-shafted head offers a visual symmetry, and tungsten toe-heel weights ensure stability for improved accuracy. The shallow milled face provides a firmer feel and consistent ball speed with pleasing acoustics. The color-blocked head features a platinum topline contrasting against the black cavity with its white alignment line to draw the focus forward.

Tyne G
A trio of white lines, ball-width cavity floor and ball-pickup cutout feature distinguish the easy-to-aim Tyne G. The cutout redistributes mass to the perimeter for added stability and forgiveness to improve accuracy with the added benefit of a “gimme” ball-pickup feature. A PEBAX insert with shallow milled surround ensures a softer feel and consistent ball speed with pleasing acoustics.

Prime Tyne 4
A top performer evolves for 2023, featuring the customary twin forks that make the head highly stable to ensure forgiveness and accuracy. The shallow milled face delivers a firmer feel, consistent ball speed and pleasing acoustics. New color blocking utilizes a platinum topline contrasted against the black cavity to draw the focus forward.

Mundy
Forgiveness is driven way up by joining a lighter aluminum body to a 304 stainless steel sole plate for positioning the center of gravity low/back. A PEBAX insert with a smooth milled surround delivers a softer feel and consistent ball speed with pleasing acoustics. Three full-length, ball-width alignment lines draw the eye to the point of contact with the ball, simplifying aiming.

Tomcat 14
Multi-material construction creates extreme MOI in the Tomcat 14, built with a lighter aluminum body joined to a 304 stainless steel sole plate for positioning the center of gravity low/back for forgiveness. Ball-width runway-style dotted lines track all the way to the ball to aid in alignment. The smooth milled face delivers the firmest feel of the newest PING putters, and slightly faster ball speed.

DS72 Armlock
Built with a longer shaft (41.5 inches compared to the standard 35) and grip and more loft to perform for the armlock style of player, the DS72 offers a shallow milled face delivers a firmer feel and consistent ball speed with pleasing acoustics. A platinum topline contrasts against the black cavity where a white alignment line and ball-width cavity floor focus the eye. The more squared off will be aesthetically pleasing to the mid-mallet player.

For more details, visit https://eu.ping.com/en-gb/clubs/putters/new-ping

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