Spieth survives shaky start to stay two ahead of Kuchar
CHINA’S LI MAKES FOLK SIT UP WITH SEVEN-UNDER 63 TO SURGE TO THIRD
vernight leader Jordan Spieth endured a shaky start to his final round in the British Open at Royal Birkdale yesterday but maintained a two-shot lead over nearest challenger Matt Kuchar after seven holes.
Spieth started the day three shots clear on 11 under par but promptly bogeyed three of the first four holes while Kuchar birdied the 2nd to go to nineunder.
However, the nerves got to Kuchar as well and he dropped a shot at the 3rd before another bogey at the 6th to go back to -7 for the championship.
Spieth birdied the short parfour 5th and saved a par at the difficult 6th after a wayward tee shot to sit at -9.
Behind them, China’s Li Haotong roared up to third on the leaderboard after a stunning seven-under-par round of 63 left him at six-under overall.
England’s Matthew Southgate and Australia’s Marc Leishman both shot 65 to sit in the clubhouse at four under par.
Remarkable feat
Li, 21, started the day at +1 for the championship and parred his first seven holes before a remarkable run of seven birdies and four pars in his remaining 11 holes.
It is just the 32nd round of 63 ever recorded in a major championship and just the 11th achieved at a British Open.
The score was the all-time low in a major until Saturday, when South Africa’s Branden Grace broke new ground with an unprecedented 62 in the third round.
Winner of the Masters and US Open in 2015, Spieth is looking to emulate the great Jack Nicklaus by getting his hands on a third different major before turning 24.
Memories are still fresh of the Masters last year, when like this week he led after each of the first three rounds but choked when it came to the crunch.
He was five shots clear approaching the 10th on the Sunday at Augusta, only to drop six shots in three holes and eventually lose out to England’s Danny Willett.
In contrast to Spieth, the 39-year-old Kuchar has never triumphed in a major.
But the last seven majors have all gone to first-time winners and five of the last six British Opens have been won by players aged 39 or older.
Kuchar’s plan
“Continue with good golf. Again, I’ll be playing with him but not focused on him. My goal is to go out and play Royal Birkdale,” said Kuchar ahead of his battle with Spieth for the Claret Jug.
The odds are in favour of a sixth American winner in 10 Opens to be held at Birkdale, on the Irish Sea coast in the town of Southport near Liverpool.
Former winners include Arnold Palmer in 1961 and Tom Watson in 1983.
Crowds thronged the course from early on at Birkdale and organisers the R&A announced that a record attendance had been set for an Open outside St Andrews with 235,000 spectators over the week.