Dustin Johnson of the United States lines up a putt as Jason Day of Australia looks on, during the first round of the 2015 PGA Championship at Whistling Straits in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. (AFP)

Reuters/Sheboygan, Wisconsin

Dustin Johnson, so often the nearly man in recent majors, took advantage of relatively calm early conditions to take the clubhouse lead in the opening round of the 97th PGA Championship yesterday.
While most golf fans eagerly awaited the ‘Rory and Jordan’ show set for later in the day at Whistling Straits, the long-hitting American racked up an eagle at the par-five 16th, five birdies and a bogey to card a six-under-par 66.
It was a rewarding and timely opening round for Johnson, who five years ago incurred a two-stroke penalty on the final hole of the last PGA Championship to be played here that cost him a spot in a playoff for the title.
Fellow Americans Matt Kuchar, Russell Henley, Harris English and J.B. Holmes, and Australian Jason Day, opened with 68s as the wind began to pick up on the visually spectacular but challenging links-style layout. “Beautiful (early) conditions,” said Kuchar, a seven-times winner on the PGA Tour whose best PGA Championship finish was a tie for 10th here in 2010.
“This was definitely the time to take advantage of the golf course, Probably as easy as we have seen this place play. The wind picked up more than I thought it would on the incoming holes. It’s a more challenging golf course at the moment.”
World number six Justin Rose, fellow Englishman James Morrison, Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn and American Brendan Steele returned 69s while Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama, who got to five-under before bogeying three of his last four holes, carded a 70.  Four-times champion Tiger Woods, who won the most recent of his 14 majors title at the 2008 U.S. Open, did not benefit from his early tee time as he mixed two birdies with five bogeys on the way to a 75.
The 39-year-old American, whose world ranking has shockingly plummeted to 278th, has missed the cut in his last two majors and faces an uphill climb if he is to avoid a third in a row for the first time in his career.
Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth, who between them have won four of the last five majors played, had just teed off from the par-four first in a high-profile grouping with British Open champion Zach Johnson.
“I’m excited to just share a couple days with Rory and Zach,” said Masters and U.S. Open champion Spieth. “I played with Zach (at Firestone) last week. He’s a good friend of mine.
“We’re going to have a good time, and hopefully we can all feed off each other these two days. Hopefully we can all get into contention.”
The return from an ankle injury by world number one McIlroy to defend his PGA Championship crown this week and Spieth’s bid to win a third grand slam title this year have marked out the season’s final major as extra special.