JERSEY CITY, N.J. – Troy Merritt’s focus has shifted after tying Liberty National’s course record in the first round of THE NORTHERN TRUST. Merritt arrived in New Jersey ranked 72nd in the FedExCup, just outside the cut line to advance to next week’s BMW Championship. Moving onto the correct side of that demarcation was his first priority when he teed off Thursday. Related: Leaderboard | FedExCup Playoffs primer | Scenarios: How to make the top 70 Now, he’s thinking about his third PGA TOUR triumph. Scores were low Thursday after Liberty National was soaked by rain, and Merritt was the lowest of them all. He shot 62 to take a one-shot lead over Dustin Johnson after the morning wave completed play. Merritt tied the course record set by Kevin Chappell in the third round of the 2013 NORTHERN TRUST. “We’re in a good position now to contend for the championship,â€� Merritt said. “That’s why we tee it up each week. Obviously this week, it’s a little bit different with just trying to get into next week … and now we can shift our focus from winning the golf tournament.â€� Merritt’s round came a little more than a year after he had a blood clot removed from his left arm. The operation was on August 4, shortly after he won the Barbasol Championship. That win, and his strong start to this season, gave him the freedom to have another procedure that fixed the cause of the clot. Merritt had a rib removed in January to relieve thoracic outlet syndrome. That condition is caused when blood vesssels or nerves become compressed between the collarbone and first rib. Merritt, who finished fourth in the season-opening Safeway Open, sat out until THE PLAYERS Championship. He still had a career-high four top-10s this season. He could end this season with the best FedExCup finish of his eight-year career. He finished 56th in 2015, the year he won the Quicken Loans National. He said the elective procedure has paid dividends in his swing. “I tended to get a little bit tight at the top of my swing, kind of where the rib was and I got a little bit quick at the top,â€� Merritt said. “Now I don’t get tight at the top and I can take my time and that usually helps out my tempo, and as a result, the swing’s been a lot better more often.â€� He hit 14 greens Thursday, gaining more than 3 strokes with his approach play. He made seven of the nine putts he faced from 7 to 15 feet and holed two putts outside 15 feet. He gained 4.5 strokes with his putting Thursday. A long par putt on the seventh hole, his 16th, may have been his biggest of the day, though. He had to lay up out of a fairway bunker on the par-4, leaving himself a third shot from outside 100 yards. He wedged to 15 feet and made the putt. Merritt has advanced to the BMW Championship, which is reserved for the top 70 in the FedExCup standings, just once. He was 110th in this year’s standings until his runner-up finish two weeks ago at the Barracuda Championship. A win this week would move him inside the top 10 of the season-long standings. “That putter was hot today and the greens were rolling beautifully and just took advantage of it,â€� he said.
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