SOUTHPORT,United Kingdom – Dustin Johnson is aiming to show why he is ranked number one in the world and emerge from a field full of potential winners at the British Open, which gets underway at Royal Birkdale on Thursday.
Johnson, 33, has not made an impression at the majors so far this year, missing the Masters with a back injury and missing the cut at the US Open, where he was the defending champion.
That makes it hard to say he is anything more than just another contender among many at Birkdale, the par-70 links in the town of Southport, on the Lancashire coast of north-west England.
“I feel like I play well over here. I like this kind of golf. You use a lot of imagination. You’ve got to use a lot of different shots. I really enjoy coming over here and playing,” said Johnson, who tees off at 2:48 p.m. (1348 GMT) in his first round on Thursday.
He goes out in an all-star group with 2011 Masters champion Chad Schwartzel of South Africa and world number four Rory McIlroy.
The Northern Irishman won the Open in 2014, not far from Birkdale at Royal Liverpool.