The Northern Trust: Johnson the favorite after strong opening round

Dustin Johnson jumped to the top of the betting odds with an opening 65 at Glen Oaks Club.

The 5-under par round put Johnson alone in second place just a shot behind Russell Henley as he heads into Friday's round at +250, down from 14/1.

The first-round leader Henley is next along with Rickie Fowler at 12/1. Henley went off at 140/1 Thursday and was in the 90-100/1 range to be the first-round leader.

Unfortunately, I didn't have Henley on the card for the first round. Bubba Watson was the closest in sixth place, so that was a two-unit loss.

Going into the second round, one thing caught my eye among the favorites was that Jordan Spieth has dropped a little to 14/1 after opening with a 69. Spieth posted the fourth-best round in strokes gained: tee to green, but lost nearly two strokes with the putter. It's likely that Spieth had his off day on the green for the week, but managed to stay in the tournament. If he gets back even to the field average, he'll jump into contention for the weekend.

Heading into Friday, I'll make one small 3-ball play. I'm going to gamble on Luke List at +250 over Phil Mickelson and Charl Schwartzel for a half unit. List is clearly the worst player in this group, but Mickelson has been out of form for a while now, and Schwartzel struggled quite a bit from tee to green. List had a poor day putting like he tends to, but I'll gamble on his tee-to-green game and the chance on him having an average day with the putter.

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Joshua has spent the last five years writing about sports and the last 10 years betting them, mostly on golf. One of approximately five people who will watch the PGA over the NFL in November. Follow him on Twitter @JoshuaPerry22

Photo: © Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports