SPRINGFIELD, N.J. — Dustin Johnson looked nothing like a major champion Thursday in the opening round of the PGA.

The U.S. Open winner shot 77, including three straight bogey 5s, two double bogeys, and a bogey 6 on the 18th hole that nearly everyone was birdieing.

In all, Johnson beat five players, three of them club pros, and pretty much played his way out of contention while paired with British Open champ Henrik Stenson (3-under 67) and Masters winner Danny Willett (1 over).

Things went poorly from the start for Johnson, who just last week in the Canadian Open tied for second place, and has been on a tear for much of 2016. Aside from his emphatic victory at Oakmont for his first major, Johnson followed with a victory at Firestone and a ninth at the British Open. He also has made a tour-leading 25 consecutive PGA Tour cuts — dating to the Honda Classic in March 2015, which he immediately put behind him by winning at Doral.

That Johnson was nowhere to be seen in the brutal heat at Baltusrol. He didn't wilt so much as fall apart pretty much from the outset.

Nothing worked. Not his prodigious driving skills; he was all over the place and hit only seven of 14 fairways. Not his scrambling; he even left a long bunker shot in the sand on No. 11. Not his approach shots; Johnson got on only 55.5 per cent of the greens in regulation.

And certainly not his putting. He ranked 138th on the greens.

His black attire seemed appropriate for such a round.

"He had a couple of bad drives," Stenson said of Johnson. "A couple of bad tee shots led to some bogeys. And then he missed a fairway bunker shot on 11 and wrapped up with a 6."

Stenson noted it could happen to anyone, even the second-ranked player in the world.

"Yeah, it's major golf," the first major champion from Sweden added. "It's a tough course. If you're not playing your best, it's going to show up, and I think that's normal. If you are playing well, you can shoot a score. But if you're struggling and hit a couple of loose ones, it's easy to go the other way.

"He just didn't have a good day out there. We all know what he's capable of doing with a golf ball and on a golf course. I'm sure he'll bounce back shortly."

Johnson, playing for a third straight week for the third time this season, will need to bounce back in a big way Friday to sniff making the cut.

That's hardly where Johnson could have envisioned he'd stand when he spoke on Wednesday. Asked about his consistency in major championships the last three years — eight Top-10s, one win — he said:

"Well, I like the majors, and I feel like they are always played on really tough golf courses, which I feel like I do very well on really hard golf courses where pars are good scores, where you've got to drive it in the fairway, you've got to hit it on the green. You know, you've really got to control your ball.

"I feel like it keeps me mentally in it longer. When I'm on really tough golf courses, I feel like I'm more focused because I'm really trying to hit the ball to a certain spot, instead of a lot of times when I struggle sometimes is just staying mentally focused on every shot."

The focus was gone Thursday, and with it likely went Johnson's chances to win a second major.