Spieth still is playing from on top at Travelers
By The Associated Press
Jordan Spieth has no idea what it is like to play from behind at the Travelers Championship.
The defending champion led after every round a year ago in his first visit to TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Conn., and a shot a 7under 63 Thursday to match Zach Johnson for the firstround lead.
Spieth had six birdies and an eagle out the bunker on par-5 sixth hole — a shot reminiscent of the greenside bunker shot that gave him a victory in 2017 over Daniel Berger in a playoff.
“They’ve got some sort of magnetic sand for me,” Spieth joked. “But it was actually a pretty tough shot there, almost a little downslope and I had to hit close to the ball, which you just have to commit to it. I just hit the shot that was necessary. I probably could have gone 4-5 feet bye, but I couldn’t hit it any better than I did and I was obviously fortunate for it to hit the pin and go in.”
Johnson went out in the morning and led for most of the day. He had eight birdies, including six in a row on the back nine, one off than the course record.
“Six in a row is a treat,” said Johnson, who finished tied for 12th last week in the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills in Southampton, N.Y. “I had a lot of loft in my hand, lot of wedges in my hand. So that’s kind of how you’ve got to think about it is you have a lot of opportunity on the back side if you get the ball on the fairway. There are some holes you can get at.”
Rory McIlroy missed a 13foot putt for par on the final hole that would have given him a share of the lead and finished in a three-way tie for third place with Brian Harmon and Peter Malnati.
McIlroy, who like Spieth missed the cut in the U.S. Open, said he’s been working on his swing since Saturday. He saw the practice pay off, hitting 17 greens with seven birdies in his round of 64.
“Sometimes when you take your focus away from the result and away from what you’re actually scoring like and focus just on what you’re trying to do within your golf swing, you sort of have days like this,” he said.
A lot of golfers took advantage of the soft greens and favorable wind conditions. Twenty-two of them shot a 66 or better.
Brooks Koepka followed his second U.S. Open victory in a row with a 68. Koepka, who started on the 10th tee, shot a 31 on his first nine, but bogeyed four of his final six holes.
“I’m still kind of going on adrenaline right now,” he said. “But I’ll be honest, I’m dead right now. I think it showed kind of coming in.”
European BMW
Sebastien Gros carded a 4under 68 in windy conditions to lead by one shot after the opening round of the BMW International Open in Pulheim, Germany.
The Frenchman had four birdies to take the lead before the turn, and a six-footer on the 15th hole moved him two ahead.
But a bogey on the next hole left the 28-year-old Gros just one ahead of Jorge Campillo, Scott Jamieson, Aaron Rai and Henric Sturehed.
Sturehed eagled the par-5 No. 13 to take the lead in the morning at the Gut Laerchenhof club.