Johnson starts well as five share Canadian Open lead

World number one Dustin Johnson is two shots off the pace as five players share the lead at the Canadian Open.

Dustin Johnson made a solid start to the rain-hit Canadian Open as five players shared the lead when the first round was suspended.

The world No. 1, a two-time runner-up at the PGA Tour event, carded a five-under 67 in his opening round on Thursday.

Johnson sits tied for 17th at Glen Abbey Golf Course in Oakville, Ontario after the decent start.

The American is just two shots off the lead on what is a congested leaderboard.

Hudson Swafford, Brandon Hagy, Kevin Chappell, Matt Every and Ollie Schniederjans are tied for the lead at seven under after opening 65s.

Another group of 11 players – Bubba Watson and defending champion Jhonattan Vegas among them – are a shot back.

Johnson, the 2016 U.S. Open champion, had a mixed round at the event, where rain led to play being suspended for almost two hours during the afternoon.

He was four under through seven holes, but made back-to-back bogeys to start his back nine.

Johnson responded with a birdie at the 12th before an eagle at the par-five 13th, but he dropped a shot at 14 and birdied the 17th.

Every and Schniederjans went through bogey-free, the latter making eagles at two par-fives – the 13th and 18th.

Alongside Watson, the 2015 runner-up, and Vegas at six under are Tyrone Van Aswegen, James Hahn, Smylie Kaufman, K.J. Choi, Chad Campbell, Vijay Singh, Jim Herman, Peter Malnati and Martin Flores.

Only 15 players were unable to complete their opening rounds, with Kramer Hickok (five under through 17) the best-placed.