PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — Twenty months later, Dustin Johnson finally hit the drive he wanted at Pebble Beach. Ten years later, Tiger Woods must have wondered what kept him away from the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.
On a spectacular day of scenery and scoring, Johnson blasted a tee shot on the third hole at Pebble Beach and then pitched in for eagle from 41 yards in front of the green. He added another eagle on his way to a 9-under 63 and a three-way tie atop the leader board Thursday.
Woods was five shots to par out of the lead, a solid start to his PGA Tour season. He had six birdies in a 4-under 68 at Spyglass Hill, the fourth-best score on that course. Spyglass was hardest of the three courses, though not by much. The weather was so pure that all three courses played about one shot under par.
Charlie Wi was over at Monterey Peninsula and had a shot at 59 without ever knowing it. Wi was 8 under after a tap-in birdie on the 13th hole, and needed only three birdies in the last five holes. Trouble is, he had no idea the Shore Course was a 70. He made one more birdie and had a 9-under 61.
"I was looking at the scorecard like, 'What's the par here?' I did not know it was a par 70," Wi said. "That 59 never crossed my mind. Not once."
Joining them was former U.S. Amateur Danny Lee, who holed a bunker shot for eagle at No. 2 and holed out from the 11th fairway with a wedge for another eagle to match Johnson at 9-under 63.
Johnson is turning into his generation's "Prince of Pebble." He won the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am in consecutive years, and then had a three-shot lead at Pebble in the U.S. Open two years ago until he shot 82 in the final round. On the third hole of that round, he hit driver left into the bushes for a lost ball and made double bogey.
On Thursday, he smashed a driver nearly 340 yards over the trees to just short of the green, setting up eagle.
Woods made his share of putts. He opened with consecutive birdies and played the par 5s in 3 under.
Lewis shares LPGA lead
MELBOURNE, Australia — American Stacy Lewis and Australia's Sarah Kemp shared the Women's Australian Open lead at 4-under 69 on Thursday, leaving top-ranked Yani Tseng a stroke back in her bid to win the event for the third straight year.
Lewis, the Kraft Nabisco winner last year, had six birdies and two bogeys in the LPGA Tour opener at historic Royal Melbourne, the 2011 Presidents Cup venue that is hosting a women's professional event for the first time.
"I fell in love with the place the first time I played it," Lewis said. "You have to be so creative and hit so many different shots. I love that."
Kemp had a bogey-free round. Only 22 of the 156 players broke par.
Cabrera-Bello shoots 63
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Rafael Cabrera-Bello made nine birdies in his first 11 holes to finish at 9-under 63 Thursday for a two-shot lead after the first round of the Dubai Desert Classic.
Marcel Siem and Scott Jamieson each shot 65.
U.S. Open champion Rory McIlroy was three shots back, making seven birdies on the last 10 holes. He's tied for fourth with six other players, including 2010 PGA champion Martin Kaymer.
"I didn't really get much going on the front nine," McIlroy said. "And then I sort of got a few things going after that."
Cabrera-Bello said he briefly thought about scoring 59, one shot better than his career-best 60 that helped him win the Austrian Open. But he ended the round with seven straight pars.
"It felt simple. I know it's not and I know it's really hard to repeat," the 119th-ranked Cabrera-Bello said. "But it felt like everything was going nice and smooth today."
Third-ranked Lee Westwood had a 69, and defending champion Alvaro Quiros shot a 70. Robert Rock, who beat Tiger Woods and McIlroy at Abu Dhabi on Jan. 29, trails by 10 shots.
Cabrera-Bello said his consistent short game helped put him in contention for a second European Tour win and first since 2009. The 27-year-old Spaniard chipped within 3 feet on his fourth hole for birdie, then sank a 20-foot birdie putt on his fifth and made a 15-foot putt on his eighth.
McIlroy, who won the tournament in 2009 and finished second last month at the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship, started with six straight pars and a bogey. He sank clutch birdie putts on No. 9 and 11 and missed a hole-in-one on the par-3 15 by a foot.
