Merritt leads, Woods stumbles at Northern Trust

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There were plenty of low scores to kick off the FedExCup playoffs, but the reigning Masters champ wasn't among them. Here's how things look after the opening round of The Northern Trust in New Jersey, where Troy Merritt leads and Tiger Woods finds himself near the bottom of the standings:

Leaderboard: Troy Merritt (-9), Dustin Johnson (-8), Kevin Kisner (-7), Jon Rahm (-7), Rory McIlroy (-6), Justin Rose (-6)

What it means: Merritt got off to a fast start in the early-morning hours when fans were not yet allowed on the course, and he kept it going once they arrived to grab an early lead. But as expected, it's a star-studded leaderboard behind him that includes a former tournament…