Johnson off at 8:30 a.m. Thursday

Dustin Johnson of Myrtle Beach is teeing off at 8:30 a.m. Thursday off the 10th tee at Harbour Town Golf Links in the first round of the $5.7 million 41st Verizon Heritage. He's playing with Brian Gay and the highest-ranked player in the field, Paul Casey of England, who is ranked seventh in the Official World Golf Ranking. The group goes off the first tee at 1:10 p.m. in Friday's second round.
Johnson, who is 10th on the FedEx Cup points list and ninth on the 2009 PGA Tour money list with nearly $1.64 million earned, fell from 40th to 42nd in the world last week despite a tie for 30th in the $7.5 million Masters.
Tommy Gainey, a native of Darlington and resident of Bishopville who is playing this week on a sponsor exemption, is in the final group of the first round off the 10^th tee Thursday at 1:40 p.m. with James Driscoll and Mark Anderson, an amateur from Beaufort who played for the University of South Carolina and won the Players Amateur to earn a designated spot. They go off the first tee at 9 a.m. Friday.