Dustin Johnson walks on the eighth hole during the second round of the TOUR Championship at East Lake Golf Club on September 23, 2011 in Atlanta, Georgia.
(September 22, 2011 – Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images North America)

KINGSBARNS, Scotland (AP) — Dustin Johnson doesn’t begrudge Tiger Woods for hiring his caddie, saying such decisions are part of the business of golf.

Joe LaCava left Johnson on Sunday to become Woods’ third full-time caddie.

“I spoke to Tiger about it. There’s no hard feelings at all,” Johnson said Thursday after shooting a 1-under 71 in the first round of the Dunhill Links Championship. “We had a great conversation. He just did what he did.”

LaCava was the longtime caddie for Fred Couples but joined Johnson this summer. Johnson, one of the most talented American players, was looking for a caddie. Johnson won The Barclays last month with LaCava on the bag.

“I liked Joe. I still do. But you’ve got to make decisions and you can’t get mad at him for the decisions he made,” said Johnson, who was in the locker room after the final round of the Tour Championship when he found out LaCava had been hired by Woods.

“He got offered a job so he took it. You can’t blame the guy. If he wants to go and caddie for him, it’s fine by me.”

Johnson will have Keith Sbarbaro, vice president of his club maker, TaylorMade, on his bag for the rest of the year. Sbarbaro has caddied for Johnson in tournaments in South Korea and Germany this year.

“He’s a real good buddy of mine,” Johnson said.

Jhonattan Vegas of Venezuela watches his approach shot on the ninth hole during the first round of the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open at the TPC Summerlin on September 29, 2011 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
(September 28, 2011 – Photo by Scott Halleran/Getty Images North America)

Vegas, McGirt top Las Vegas leaderboard

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Jhonattan Vegas and William McGirt shot career-best 8-under 63s on Thursday to share the first-round lead in the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open.

Vegas, the Venezuelan rookie who won the Bob Hope Classic in January for his first PGA Tour title, had 10 birdies and two bogeys at TPC Summerlin in the first of four Fall Series events.

McGirt, also a PGA Tour rookie, had eight birdies in a bogey-free round.

Nathan Green and Charlie Wi were a stroke back.

Vegas, playing in hot afternoon conditions, birdied the par-4 15th and par-5 16th to reach 8 under, dropped a stroke on the par-3 17th and closed with a birdie on the par-4 18th to get back to 8 under.

“I feel like I’m hitting the ball absolutely great, which is something fun to do,” Vegas said. “But the main thing was I made a lot of putts today.

“The two greens I missed today, I missed by probably half an inch. And just putting from the fringe I three-putted both times, which was kind of ironic. It’s just golf. It is what it is. You have to stay positive, and the more positive you can be the better you’ll be out there.”

McGirt, playing in one of the last groups of the day, made seven birdies in a 10-hole stretch from Nos. 7 to 16, then parred the final two holes to match Vegas at 8 under.

“I really didn’t set a number,” McGirt said. “I was just trying to make as many birdies as I could. Thursday through Saturday, all you’re doing is jockeying for position so that you can make a move on Sunday.

“I knew there was a 7 under posted (by Green) before I even teed off. So you knew it was out there, and it was just a matter of staying aggressive and making some putts.”

Green, the leader until Vegas overtook him in the final hour, made seven birdies. The Australian won the 2009 Canadian Open for his lone PGA Tour title

“Just no mistakes, which was nice,” Green said. “No bogeys, which was pretty unusual. “I didn’t hit it overly close. It was just one of those steady rounds where I just managed to pick up; there’s probably three or four sort of unexpected birdies out there.”

Nick Watney, a two-time winner this year, was two strokes back at 65 along with Harrison Frazar, Tim Herron, Vaughn Taylor, Steve Flesch, Matt Jones, Rod Pampling, Derek Lamely, Blake Adams, Garrett Willis and Alex Cejka. Frazar and Lamely eagled the 524-yard 16th hole.

Jonathan Byrd, the winner last year when he made a hole-in-one on the fourth hole of a playoff with Martin Laird and Cameron Percy, opened with a 71.