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Steve Stricker put the field on notice with a morning-round of 65 on Friday, but Dustin Johnson electrified the crowd with an ace at the Northern Trust Open.

The pair are tied at 10-under par after play was called at 5:02 local time due to darkness and wet conditions with 41 players still on the course. The second round will conclude Saturday 7:30 a.m. PST with Johnson on the par-five 17th.

Weather isn’t expected to improve, though, as rain is forecast at 40 percent Saturday morning, increasing to a 70 percent chance by the afternoon.

“It was pretty miserable out there today. It never really let up,” Stricker said. “Conditions probably even got a little worse as the day went on.”

Playing on a soggy afternoon at Riviera Country Club, Johnson opened with birdies at the first and fourth holes before reaching the par-three 6th. The first-round leader hit eight-iron on the 152-yard hole and watched his shot hit beyond the pin and spin back into the cup.

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Square grooves or not, Riviera yielded plenty of red scores in the first round of the Northern Trust Open on Thursday.

The equipment ban made headlines during the week as Phil Mickelson was criticized by Scott McCarron for using 20-year-old Ping wedges at least week’s PGA Tour stop in San Diego. Pings dating prior to 1990 are currently legal via loophole, though all other clubs with square grooves have been outlawed for the 2010 season and beyond.

So to quiet the murmurs, Mickelson left the questionable clubs at home.

The two-time defending champion could have used some extra bite Thursday as he opened with a one-over par 72, but it had more to do with his putter. Mickelson missed par putts at 15, 16 and 18 to spoil a round that stood at three-under through 11 holes.

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Tiger Woods has handed the players on the PGA Tour an opportunity, a mulligan of sorts.

With his absence from competitive golf to extend indefinitely, each player on the mens’ professional tour now has the chance to prove his worthiness as the best player in the game.

For the second time in the last 18 months, Woods has opened the competition to everyone else.

Who that will be is a guess open to anyone that follows the tour and it really isn’t all that different from similar questions that have been raised from time to time during Tiger’s reign as arguably the best player to ever swing a golf club.

David Duval, Sergio Garcia and Phil Mickelson have all been saddled with the responsibility of the next player to challenge Tiger’s supremacy. Padraig Harrington, Vijay Singh and Retief Goosen have all made noise in the majors. Angel Cabrera chimed in with a pair of major victories.

But aside from the moments when Mickelson has channeled his talent, none have played at the consistently high level established by Woods over the last decade to truly be a contender for the game’s top player.

Woods, though, is not part of the equation following his missteps that came to light in highly public fashion late in 2009. So, for the golf season which starts tomorrow on the Plantation Course in Kapalua, the favorite is not in the field and will not be for the foreseeable future.

Woods and his handlers have said nothing about his return and the use of the word indefinite could not have been more clear.

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