Northern Trust Open: Steve Stricker struggles

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Defending Northern Trust Open champion Steve Stricker wasn’t kidding when he said his game was rusty. The 43-year-old Chicago Bears fan from Wisconsin is two over par after 14 holes of his first round. He’s got three bogeys and a single birdie on the short par-five first hole. Stricker is six strokes behind leaders John Senden, Martin Laird and Jarrod Lyle, who are four-under par.

No Americans are in the top six. The best U.S. players on the course so far areMatt Kuchar, Chad Collins andD.J. Trahan, who are at two-under and tied for seventh.

A couple of other big names are also struggling. Former U.S. Open champion Jim Furyk is three over par through 15 holes and Dustin Johnson,who was a two-time PGA Tour winner last year and who led here in 2010 after the first two rounds, is four over through 14 holes with a double-bogey six at the short par-four 10th hole, the first hole Johnson played. Johnson was late for his tee time and incurred a penalty before he even started.

-- Diane Pucin