Masters champion Zach Johnson grabs first-round Mitsubishi Electric lead

Johnson is one shot ahead of Thongchai Jaidee and Ben Crane at 14 points and three shots ahead of Paul Stankowski, K.J. Choi and Retief Goosen with 12. Defending champion Jerry Kelly, tournament host Stewart Cink and Alex Cejka are tied with 11.

Credit: David King

Credit: David King

This week’s tournament is being played under the Modified Stableford Scoring system, which rewards aggressive play. Eagles are worth five points, birdies are worth two points and pars are worth zero. A bogey counts minus-one and a double bogey (or worse) counts minus-three.

“A lot of positives, obviously,” said Johnson, who would have shot 66 under stroke play. “I drove it great, which put myself in decent scoring positions. I was pretty aggressive.”

Things are slightly different from the times Johnson won here in 2004 and 2007. The fairways have been switched to zoysia and the greens converted from bent grass to Bermuda. But the bones of the course are essentially the same, and Johnson has the course knowledge to know where to put the ball.

“I love it. I’ve loved it since before I was on Tour. That was a long time ago,” Johnson said. “I fell in love with it then and that love is still there.”

Johnson was a Monday qualifier at the 2002 BellSouth field and wound up tied for 17th. Not bad, but Johnson still recalls the pain of four-putting the 72nd hole, turning an eagle into a bogey and costing him about $160,000 in prize money. It also put him back on the minitour circuit for the rest of the year.

Johnson, who now lives in Sea Island, no longer has to worry about finding a place in the field. He won the 2007 Masters and the 2015 British Open to almost clinch a spot in the World Golf Hall of Fame.

Crane enjoys Sugarloaf, too, and requested a spot in both pro-ams this week. He won the 2003 BellSouth Classic, his first of five career PGA wins. Crane turned 50 in March and is a rookie on the PGA Tour Champions. He finished second last week in the Senior PGA Championship, only his fourth start as a senior.

Crane finished strong, making birdies on three of the last four holes. He had eight birdies and two bogeys, which equates to a 66 on a traditional card.

“I’ve been working hard the last five years, but the last two weeks have been really elite,” Crane said. “Just played some really good golf. So thankful to have really just about everything firing on all cylinders.”

Jaidee birdied the first three holes and finished with seven birdies and no bogeys, a 65 under stroke play.

“I know the course quite well, but the game plan this week, it’s different,” Jaidee said. “You have to make more points. A par means nothing, so we had to plan to attack the hole.”

Jaidee doesn’t have a great track record at Sugarloaf. His best finish in five previous starts is a tie for 26th in 2021 and 2024. Last year, he tied for 52nd.

The 18th hole: The par-5 18th hole, considered a place where the players can be more aggressive, gave up two eagles and 37 birdies and played to a 4.59-stroke average. The hole location in the left front of the green was tricky to reach and will be more accessible over the next two rounds.

Saturday’s schedule: Players go off both sides on Saturday, starting at 10:48 a.m. Leaders Zach Johnson, Thongchai Jaidee and Ben Crane tee off at 1 p.m.