Nine players share the lead at Northern Trust Open

J.B. Holmes is famous for his golf pace.

For his pondering his club selection as if he was selecting a mate for life. For wiggling and waggling over putts. For provoking Tiger Woods into complaining about the slow play of golfers after a particularly leisurely afternoon Woods spent while beating Holmes in the World Match Play event three years ago.

And so, here it was at Riviera Country Club on Thursday, when 14 golfers were left on the course after it became too dark to see the flagstick in front of your face during the first round of the Northern Trust Open, when Holmes said this:

“It was very slow. We waited a lot. Maybe they’ve got a few too many people out there. I don’t know.”

Holmes did manage to finish his round, just barely and he wasn’t so displeased about the result. Holmes, who finished tied for third here last year, is one of nine players tied for the lead at four-under-par 67.

There were three Australians — 2001 Riviera winner Robert Allenby, John Senden and Aaron Baddeley. There was Martin Laird of Scotland and Carl Pettersson of Sweden and a quartet of Americans. Besides Holmes, that was Bill Haas, who has finished in the top 10 three times already this year, Spencer Levin, who is playing this tournament for the first time, and PGA Tour rookie Ben Martin, who is making only his fifth start.

It’s possible there could even be a 10-way tie for first. Peter Tomasulo, winner of the 2005 Long Beach Open, was left with a 12-foot birdie putt on 18 to also go four under. He’ll have to sleep on that.

Among the six players a shot out of the lead are 51-year-old Fred Couples, who won here in 1990 and 1992, Irishman Padraig Harrington, who has won three major championships but only one PGA Tour title, and Vijay Singh, another player with three major titles.

Phil Mickelson, also a two-time winner at Riviera, started fast with two birdies but settled for an even-par 71 that left him tied for 40th. “I was a couple under and thought it was going to be a great day,” Mickelson said. “But I gave a couple shots back, had too many bogeys.”

That was better than Dustin Johnson, who led here last year after the first and second rounds. Johnson was penalized two shots after he nearly missed his tee time of 7:32. Johnson said his caddie had confused his pro-am start time of 8:12 with his Thursday morning appointment. Johnson rushed to the tee just in time to play, double bogeyed the hole, with the penalty added, and is at 73.

And Johnson was better off than Bubba Watson, who had celebrated a victory three weeks ago in Southern California by winning the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines. After shooting a five-over 77 Thursday, Watson withdrew and said he is suffering from a stomach muscle strain.

While 67 was the highest first-round leading score here in 15 years, it was looking good to those who have it. The weather was near-perfect Thursday with almost no breeze and sunny skies, but rain is predicted to settle in for the next two days.

Haas, who started his round with an eagle at the par-five first hole, said he wouldn’t be happy if he was where, for example, Dustin Johnson sits.

“If I was two over right now,” Haas said, “I wouldn’t like the forecast.”

The long-hitting Holmes, who also tied for sixth at Riviera in 2009 before finishing tied for third last year, said that he has no specific reason for his good play on the traditional course. “I’m just comfortable here,” he said. “Several holes set up a little dogleg right maybe and I like hitting a cut. But I just think it’s a great layout and a good golf course.”

If only he could get some people to hurry up.

[email protected]

twitter.com/mepucin