Three tied after first day
Koepka, Spieth, Kuchar have 65s to lead at Royal Birkdale
SOUTHHPORT, England — It’s OK for a professional athlete to take an occasional hiatus.
Didn’t we learn that lesson when a fresh and rested Roger Federer won Wimbledon lastweekend?
Reminders cropped up Thursday on the first day of the British Open, when the leaderboard was populated with Americans Jordan Spieth and Brooks Koepka — who just put down the clubs for four and five weeks — and 39-year-old Matt Kuchar, currently the highest-earning PGA Tour player without a major championship win.
Each shot a five-under-par 65 to forge a three-way tie at Royal Birkdale, where the churning sky produced a light rain in the morning and postcard-worthy sunshine in the afternoon.
Whereas Kuchar and Koepka turned in scorching nines — Kuchar shot 29 on the front, Koepka 32 on the back — Spieth was outstanding throughout with a 31 and 34.
“Everything was strong,” said Spieth, who won the Masters and U.S. Open in 2015 and already has two tournament wins this year. “I give it a nine out of 10 across the
board for everything — tee balls, ball-striking, short game and putting. So things are in check.”
It might have been a fourway tie had San Diego’s Charley Hoffman been able to hang on to his stellar round. He got to five-under before giving back two strokes with consecutive bogeys. He finished in a sixway tie for sixth, one shot behind Paul Casey and Charl Schwartzel.
Thiswas the first day and the leaderboard was as unpredictable as the weather. The forecast today calls for rain in the afternoon but, in talking tolocals, it’s anyone’s guess.
Like Federer, the 35-year-old tennis superstar whotook time off because of injuries and to avoid burnout, both Spieth andKoepka are rested. That’s somewhat unusual for the British Open, where since 2010 every champion played in a tournament the week before.
Jupiter resident Koepka played once, with his manager, since winning the U.S. Open in mid-June.
“It’s funny, I’ll play with my dad and shoot 75 every time or higher,” the Cardinal Newman High grad said. “It’s hard to get into it. You just need a little bit of competitiveness and a little bit of something to getme going.
“I mean, look at all the majors I’ve played. . . The record has been pretty good. Any time you put something on the line like that, I get up for it.”
As for Kuchar, he has earned $39.77 million since joining the PGA Tour in 2001 but is still looking for his first victory in a major. His best finish at the British Open was a tie for ninth in 2012.
Kuchar believes good golf is more about crushing shots than crunching numbers, so he was unmoved Thursday when he was told that five of the past six British Open winners were 39 or older. Askedwhymore