Spieth turns in a beauty on a nasty wet day at British Open

JORDAN Spieth expected a rough time at the British Open before he even got to the golf course.

He spent Friday morning at his rented house in front of the television, watching players battle a relentless wind at Royal Birkdale, all the while checking a forecast that was even worse for when he played in the afternoon. “It wasn’t a great feeling knowing we were coming into something harder,” he said.

Spieth did more than just survive.

With a short game as sharp as it has been all year, and a 3wood that turned out a lot bet- ter than it looked and led to an eagle, Spieth seized control with a 1-under 69 that gave him a two-shot lead over Matt Kuchar.

Spieth turned a bogey or worse into an unlikely par by chipping in from just short of the 10th green. And he learned enough from watching TV to know that going a little long on the par-5 15th would give him a better birdie chance. So he switched from a 3-iron to a 3wood, hit it a little off the neck and watched it run hot and fast to about 18 feet away.

“I mis-hit the shot, which is probably why it looked so gross,” Spieth said. “I hit it low off the heel, which is easy to do when you’re trying to carve a cut. And then it was obviously fortunate to get all the way to the green.”

The flight of that 3-wood looked as ugly as the weather. The outcome was as bright as his chances of getting his name on another major champion- ship trophy. Spieth was at 6under 134.

It was the 12th time he has been atop the leaderboard at a major, including the fourth rounds of the Masters and US Open that he won in 2015. Spieth is the sole leader at a major for the first time since the third round of the Masters last year.