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Dustin Johnson bombs off the tee on Thursday. USATSI

Dustin Johnson picked up on Thursday at the FedEx St. Jude Classic where he left off at the Memorial Tournament last week. Johnson shot a first-round 66 as he looks for his second title at this tournament in the last five years. His day was incredibly bumpy, which doesn't necessarily bode well for the U.S. Open at Oakmont next week, but might be enough to get a win at this tournament.

Johnson, who has finished in the top five in four of his last five tournaments, made an eagle, seven birdies, six pars, three bogeys and a double at TPC Southwind on Thursday. That equals to probably an 88 next week, but was good enough for a 66 on this point-and-shoot track.

"Just a few, few lapses in concentration there, you know, early," explained Johnson. "I just made a poor swing on No. 12, made double ... I feel like I'm swinging really well. I'm driving it in the fairway. I'm hitting good iron shots. So, just ... a couple bad swings and cost me a bunch of shots."

Johnson is one off the early lead shared by Seung Yul Noh and Tom Hoge at 5 under each.

"I feel pretty good about my position, just I played a lot better today than my score," added Johnson. "You know, I think that's about as high as I could have shot. I feel like everything in the game right now is good. So, I'm excited about the rest of this week and obviously looking forward to next week, too."

Johnson noted that he played Oakmont on Tuesday and shot a "good score."

"I feel like I've been playing really well all year," said Johnson. "I feel like I got control over all my clubs and just really got to give myself the opportunity to get it done on Sundays. I think the only thing that's really held me back from winning a bunch of times this year is, you know, just making a few more putts. I've been working on the putter a lot lately."

It shows. Johnson was No. 8 in the field in strokes gained putting halfway through the afternoon wave on Thursday. He's in good position to get his first win of 2016 at this tournament which he also won back in 2012.