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JERSEY CITY, N.J. — Troy Merritt isn’t obsessed with his position in the FedExCup and what he needs to advance in the PGA TOUR’s Playoffs. He figures the best solution is good golf, and he delivered his best round of the year Thursday in THE NORTHERN TRUST. Merritt began with a 10-foot par save, followed with a pair of 20-foot birdie putts and took advantage of calm, rain-softened Liberty National by tying the course record with a 9-under 62 for a one-shot lead over Dustin Johnson. It wasn’t a career low — Merritt twice has shot 61 on the PGA TOUR — but it might have been his best round hardly anyone saw. The storm was so fierce on the eve of the FedExCup Playoffs opener that the public was not allowed in until 10 a.m., nearly three hours after the round began. And when the fans arrived, most of them were watching the action — what little there was — two groups behind him with Tiger Woods. Woods, in only his third round since the U.S. Open, made double bogey on the shortest hole on the course, three-putted from 15 feet and had three bogeys from the fairway in a listless round of 75. Along with being 13 shots out of the lead, he was in danger of missing the cut for the first time in the FedExCup Playoffs, which also would jeopardize a return to East Lake for the TOUR Championship. “We all knew it was soft out here with the rain last night,” Woods said. “I knew I had to go get it, post a low one, and didn’t do it. It’s certainly out there. Greens are soft. Fairways are soft. You can play aggressively and not have any real ramifications for playing aggressive.” Johnson ran off four straight birdies near the end of his round for a 63, a good start in a tournament he already has won twice. Kevin Kisner and Jon Rahm were at 64, while the group at 65 included Rory McIlroy and the suddenly hot Webb Simpson, who posted his sixth straight round of 65 or better dating to the final round of the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational two weeks ago. The wind arrived in the afternoon, slowing the onslaught of low scores, with no round better than the 66 by Justin Rose. “Got a bit tricky this afternoon,” Rose said. “I didn’t pay too much attention to this morning’s scores. Saw a scoreboard at one points — 9 (under), 8, 7s, 6s — and I knew it was on. This golf course, if you’re playing well, you can take it on and challenge it. … If you’re not 100 percent on your game, you have to play conservatively.” Merritt is No. 72 in the FedExCup, with the top 70 advancing next week to the BMW Championship at Medinah. Points are quadrupled in the Playoffs. “I know good golf will take care of itself,” he said. “You just try to play the best you can. Obviously, I’ll be watching throughout the weekend, but just getting off to a good start, put that to the back of the mind and try to win a golf tournament.” Johnson has no such worries as the No. 7 seed, though this time of the year means a lot to him only because of past failures. He narrowly lost out on the FedExCup in 2016 when he had a share of the 54-hole lead, shot 73 and still could have won the Cup if anyone but McIlroy had won. McIlroy won in a playoff. Four other times he went to the TOUR Championship among the top five seeds and didn’t get it done. “Absolutely — especially with what they’re paying this year,” he said with a smile, referring to the $15 million payout. “That’s like winning five majors.” His math was a little off, but point taken — his interest level is high, and his game was sharp. Even with a 63, Johnson couldn’t help but recall four birdie putts of inside 10 feet in a five-hole stretch around the turn that didn’t fall. Brooks Koepka, who has won four majors in the last three years, still hasn’t found his groove in the FedExCup. Koepka is the No. 1 seed. In 15 playoffs events, he has managed only two top 10s — his best is sixth place at the TOUR Championship two years ago — and he didn’t get off to a great start at Liberty National with only three birdies in his round of 70. Either way, he’s assured of being in East Lake. That isn’t the case for the likes of Phil Mickelson at No. 34, who opened with a 72. And it’s never been this big of a struggle for Jordan Spieth, who is No. 69 and can’t even bank on next week. He played bogey-free for a 67 in the afternoon. “I don’t like starting where I did this Playoffs, and I don’t plan on ever starting this far down again,” Spieth said before he paused to smile. “Last year I said that, and then I did. But things are improving. Today was a good day.”

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JACKSON, Miss.  – The transition to pro golf can be a tough one, even for a player whose physical talents drew comparisons to Tiger Woods. Sub-par scores almost always spell success in college golf. They can lead to missed cuts at the highest level. Players who felt unbeatable competing against their peers can lose confidence when they start losing to men who are old enough to be their father. Norman Xiong learned that after turning pro this summer. When he arrived at this week’s Sanderson Farms Championship, where he’s playing on a sponsor exemption, he’d missed all six of his cuts as a pro. “When I turned pro, it was a little bit overwhelming, I guess,� Xiong said. “I think I’ve done a really good job of learning and getting used to it.� He didn’t just make his first cut this week. He was atop the leaderboard after shooting 67 on Friday. He sits at 9-under 135 after two rounds at the Country Club of Jackson. Xiong, 19, is leading a PGA TOUR event while his high-school classmates are early in their sophomore years of college. If he can win, he’d be a day older than Jordan Spieth was when he claimed the 2013 John Deere Classic. Spieth was the youngest PGA TOUR winner since Ralph Guldahl in 1931. A newfound strength – his short game – has carried Xiong over two rounds played in cold, windy conditions at this century-old layout. Like many of his peers, Xiong plays aggressively off the tee, opting for driver despite the Country Club of Jackson’s penal Bermuda rough. It’s paid off on the par-5s, which he has played in 6 under par, including an eagle on Friday’s second hole. The 55-footer he holed from the fringe on that hole was one of three hole-outs for Xiong on Friday. He also saved par all seven times he missed a green in the second round. Xiong has hit 11 greens in each of the first two rounds but has saved par on all but one occasion. He leads the field in Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green. He chipped in on No. 16 and holed another putt from the fringe on the sixth hole. Xiong also holed a 56-foot birdie putt Thursday. Xiong said his short game used to be a weakness, but it has improved since employing coach Josh Gregory after turning pro. Bermudagrass poses unique challenges, especially to those who grew up outside the Southeast. Gregory has helped Xiong, who grew up in Southern California before attending the University of Oregon, change his clubhead path on chip shots. Xiong’s club was closed and traveling to the left through impact. Now he feels like he’s drawing his chip shots. A strong short game is a helpful addition to an impressive repertoire of physical skills. “At 19 years old, I think Tiger is the only guy I would defer to as being better than Norman. I haven’t seen much better than him at that age. He’s really that good,� Oregon head coach Casey Martin said in a GolfChannel.com profile earlier this year. Martin was teammates with Woods at Stanford. Xiong turned pro this year as college golf’s consensus player of the year. He won both the Jack Nicklaus and Fred Haskins awards, which are given to the top player in college golf. He won six times in his sophomore season, including four of his final six starts. Xiong already is ahead of the curve. He came to Oregon a semester early, halfway through his senior year of high school, and immediately entered the Ducks’ lineup. He was the national freshman of the year in just half a season. He entered the lineup immediately and won in his third start. Amateur accomplishments can help secure big endorsement deals and sponsor exemptions, but they are meaningless once the tee is in the ground. The score is all that matters. Xiong saw that this summer. He shot under par in his first four stroke-play starts on the PGA TOUR. He received nothing for his efforts, missing the cut all four times. He also missed the cut in the Barracuda Championship, which uses a Stableford format, and the European Tour’s Alfred Dunhill Links. “It was very frustrating,� he said. “I felt as though my whole game was really solid.� Xiong recently saw success a month ago at the first stage of Web.com Tour Q-School, shooting 16 under par to share medalist honors. He is scheduled to play the second stage next week in California but can change his site if he qualifies for next week’s Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. Of course, a win means he can scrap the whole Q-School quest. He’s halfway there.

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Xander Schauffele won his first PGA TOUR title in style by knocking a pitching wedge to three feet on the par-3 18th and making the ensuing putt to come out on top at The Greenbrier Classic. Along with pulling off the shot of the tournament on the last, Schauffele used his TaylorMade P750 Tour Proto irons to hit 16 of 18 greens in regulation during the final round. He led the field in the statistical category (59 of 72) for the week at 81.9 percent. Schauffele made one change to his setup at the Greenbrier with the addition of a new set of Titleist Vokey Design SM6 wedges. The wedges feature a raw finish and were bent one degree strong of standard loft. Here’s a look at the rest of the equipment in Schauffele’s bag. Driver: TaylorMade M2 2017 (Graphite Design Tour AD-BB 7X shaft), 9.5 degrees 3-wood: TaylorMade M1 2017 (Graphite Design Tour AD-BB 8X shaft), 15 degrees Irons: TaylorMade UDI (2-iron; True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 shaft), TaylorMade P750 Tour Proto (4-PW; True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 shafts) Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM6 Raw (53-08F, 57-10S and 61-08M degrees; True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 shafts) Putter: Odyssey Works Versa Big-T #5 Ball: TaylorMade Tour Preferred X

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