'The Dude' Dustin Johnson is as laidback as ever, but he's the star

High noon is as good a place as any to find a gunslinger and right on cue at a few minutes past 12 American Dustin Johnson ambles into view. He looks, for all intents and purposes, like he just stepped out of the Wild West.

A towering presence, his casual swagger could easily have been found in Dodge City or Tombstone, Arizona. But instead it's the first tee box at the 2015 UBS Hong Kong Open where he is playing alongside Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell and England's Justin Rose.

The galleries are already starting to swell considerably for this marquee group even though it is only day one of the event. Johnson is arguably the biggest American PGA star in his prime to play at the Hong Kong Open since the late Payne Stewart in 1995.

"I'm here to watch DJ, of course," says Kelvin Yiu. "There are few players who can do what he does and we are looking for a bit of magic."

After all three players hit their opening tee shots the crowd spills through the ropes onto the fairway and the few marshals they have with the group seem helpless to stop them. By the third hole the numbers of marshals are thankfully reinforced and order is restored.

Johnson starts bogey, bogey and his wonky putter could easily doom him.

The notion of him missing the cut and not being around for the weekend would clearly have organisers in a bit of a tizzy. Standing on the tee box at the third hole, a 551-yard par 5, he seems a bit perplexed before doing what he does best and ripping a laser of a drive off into the daylight.

Watch Dustin Johnson's spectacular 377-yard drive

When his shot lands on the fairway there is a deafening chorus of oohs and aahs. "Lido ah DJ," says one fan pointing to his ball, "Waaaah!"

He has little more than 180 yards left to the green and the magic Kelvin is hoping for soon materialises as his second shot goes a mile high carrying over the trees before settling about eight feet from the pin.

Up by the green Linda Fairley is squatting near the ropes while trying to prop up a miniature wooden dog in the short grass. "It's from Scotland," she says, "and it brings good luck to the golfers."

Fairley lived in Hong Kong for seven years and is now back home in Toronto where she splits her time between Canada and Florida playing as much golf as she can.

"I am not really here for one particular player," she says, "I am just a fan of great golf."

After McDowell makes a birdie putt Johnson is next and an eagle would quickly get him back on track. "This kid really needs this putt," she says as she moves the dog into place once again and almost on cue Johnson's eagle putt drops in. "Told you," she says with a smile, "magic."

But magic is in short order on this day for Johnson as he finishes with a pedestrian one under par, which ties him for 37th, while Rose comes in at five under and McDowell at four under. Despite missing a number of birdie putts, Johnson is far from disconsolate. In person he is an agreeable and remarkably laidback sort. If they ever do a remake of the Coen brothers' classic movie The Big Lebowski, Johnson would be a perfect choice to play The Dude. "Overall, I got off to a bad start but other than that I thought I played solid just didn't get the results," he says.

"Still I need to play better tomorrow, I need to shoot better than one under for sure. I just need to roll in some putts."

Although it was his first competitive round at Fanling, he did not view that as much of a disadvantage. "I only played it once, but I had a good practice," he says.

"There is nothing really tricky about it. You get a number and you got to hit it to it." For Johnson, his return to golf has been something of a salvation after he was either suspended by the PGA last August for six months for a drug offence or took a voluntary leave of absence to seek professional help for "personal challenges". In the interim, he had a baby boy with his fiancée and social media sensation Paulina Gretzky, the daughter of hockey demi-god Wayne.

He returned to the tour this year in great form before a heartbreaking three putt on the final hole of the US Open saw him lose his best chance for a first major championship win.

Again, if he is carrying demons from that meltdown you would never know. Paulina and baby Tatum were with him two weeks ago in Korea for the Presidents Cup, but this time he is flying solo.

"It's a long way for the little guy to travel again," he says then shakes my hand and thanks me for my time before moving on to a squealing throng of autograph seekers. "We love you DJ," they shriek and he smiles and nods ever so slightly before signing for the endless masses. Total attendance on day one was over 10,000, more than double opening day for the last two years. Yes indeed, The Dude abides.