The 28-year-old carded an 8-under 63 in the first round at TPC Twin Cities on Thursday, finishing the day one shot clear of Michael Thompson and two shots ahead of a group including defending champion Matthew Wolff and world No. 17 Tony Finau.

Ranked 248th in the world, Werenski has never won on the PGA Tour but is relishing the chance of making up for opportunities missed during the layoff enforced by the novel coronavirus pandemic.

“The goal at the beginning of the year was getting in the top 70, and I think I’m just a little bit more free than I kind of have been the beginning of the year,” he told ESPN. “That makes a difference.”

Meanwhile, Johnson’s hopes of rebounding from a disappointing display at the Memorial Tournament last week were dashed by a back injury which forced him to retire after opening with a 7-over par 78 on Thursday.

Johnson’s manager, David Winkle, told Golf Channel that the world No. 4 had decided to retire after experiencing tightness in his back that affected his speed and distance control.

However, he added Johnson planned to play at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational and PGA Championship in the next two weeks.

Johnson’s withdrawal could play into the hands of Finau, who began the tournament as the bookmakers’ second-favorite behind his fellow Ryder Cup teammate. In his first round since splitting from long-time caddie Greg Bodine, Finau will be looking to build on the 6-under par 65 he posted in the first round.

Finau played alongside Johnson and Tommy Fleetwood on Thursday but will have only the latter for company on Friday when he tees off at 1:40 p.m. ET.

Fleetwood’s first PGA Tour entry since March got off to a relatively underwhelming start, as he finished even par, eight shots adrift of Werenski.

Former world No. 1 Brooks Koepka fared only marginally better, finishing with a 1-under 70. The four-time major winner is the only player ranked in the world’s top-10 left in the field after Johnson’s retirement.

Here’s everything you need to know ahead of Friday.

Round 1 leaderboard

Richy Werenski -8Michael Thompson -7Tony Finau, Matthew Wolff, Bo Hoag, Max Homa, Ryan Moore, Nick Watney, Xinjun Zhang -6Aaron Baddeley, Bronson Burgoon, Robert Garrigus, Talor Gooch, Chris Kirk, Patrick Rodgers, Kyle Stanley, Charl Schwartzel, Bo Van Pelt, Brendon de Jonge -5

Selected tee times (All times EDT)

Tee No. 1

7:50 a. m. —Ricky Barnes, Tom Hoge, Michael Thompson8:30 a. m. —Lucas Glover, Ryan Armour, Troy Merritt1:30 p. m. —Brooks Koepka, Charles Howell III, Keith Mitchell1:40 p. m. —Tommy Fleetwood, Tony Finau2:30 p. m. —Patrick Rodgers, Alex Noren, Arjun Atwal

Tee No. 10

8 a. m. —Richy Werenski, Bernd Wiesberger, K. J. Choi8:20 a. m. —Max Homa, Matthew Wolff, Branden Grace8:30 a. m. —Bubba Watson, Pat Perez, Paul Casey9:30 a. m. —Bo Hoag, Michael Gligic, Kristoffer Ventura1:50 p. m. —Ryan Moore, Jason Dufner, Scott Piercy2:30 p. m. —Nick Watney, Rafa Cabrera Bello, John Senden

3M Open TV and live stream coverage

On Friday, coverage begins at 2:30 p.m. ET on Golf Channel and runs until 6:30 p.m ET.

Over the weekend, coverage begins on Golf Channel at 1 p.m. ET, running until 3 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday, before switching to CBS.

A live stream will be available on PGA Tour Live from 7:45 a.m. ET on Thursday and Friday and from 8 a.m. ET on Saturday and Sunday.