Kiwis struggle at windy Birkdale
Tough scoring conditions at the year’s third golf major took their toll on the two New Zealanders in the British Open field.
Michael Hendry carded a three-over 73 while Ryan Fox posted a four-over 74 as wind dominated the first round at Royal Birkdale in northwest England.
Hendry, 37, posted five bogeys and two birdies as he battled early to find the greens. He started his round with a bogey and followed it with back-to-back bogeys on the sixth and seventh holes.
Hendry pulled one back at the parfour eighth but closed out his front nine with another bogey. He got on the par train to start the back nine with five straight before his fifth bogey, at the parfive 15th, then a birdie at the par-four 16th.
After five straight pars, Fox, now inside the top-100 of the world rankings, bogeyed the sixth and seventh holes to drop back. He dropped another shot with a bogey at the 10th, followed by five straight pars. His only birdie came at the par-five 17th, sandwiched between two more bogeys at the 16th and 18th holes.
Hendry hit 36 per cent of fairways and 39 per cent of greens in regulation, while Fox was erratic off the tee, hitting just 14 per cent of fairways and 39 per cent of greens in regulation.
Americans Jordan Spieth Brooks Koepka and Matt Kuchar, who played alongside Fox, shared the lead at fiveunder.
Two great bunker shots by Spieth and Koepka – one for par, one for eagle – led to a five-under 65 for each of them in the opening round.
Koepka, with no competition and very little golf since winning the US Open last month, was in a pot bunker short of the green on the par-five 17th when he blasted out and watched it roll into the cup for an eagle that allowed him to share the lead with Spieth and later Kuchar.
Spieth had a bogey-free round, and it required great bunker shots even by his standards to keep it that way. His shot out of the rough barely rolled into a pot bunker to the right of the 16th green, leaving the ball on a slight slope near the back edge.
‘‘This is dangerous,’’ he said to his caddie.
He aimed to the right of the hole to avoid it going off the green on the other side and into another bunker, and it came off perfectly about 10 feet away.
‘‘That was awesome,’’ were his next words to his caddie.
He made the par putt – Spieth made a lot of putts – picked up a two-putt birdie on the 17th and narrowly missed a sevenfoot birdie putt on the last. It was Spieth’s Lydia Ko’s struggles continue after firing a two over par opening round 73 at the Marathon Classic in Ohio.
Ko, the defending champion, is seeking to win on the LPGA Tour for the first time in a year. After holding the women’s No 1 ranking for 84 weeks, the Kiwi has dropped to fourth in the world and is desperate to regain the consistency and form that had her regularly competing for titles.
Ko landed three bogeys in her opening round, with two consecutively on four and five, to find herself six shots back from clubhouse co-leaders, Chella Choi (South Korea) and American duo Brittany Lincicome and Laura Diaz best start in a major since he opened with a 66 at the Masters a year ago.
‘‘I couldn’t have done much better today,’’ he said.
Kuchar, who hit 67 per cent of greens in regulation, started hot, with four birdies in his first six holes and was fiveunder at the turn, before putting together nine straight pars on the back nine.
Royal Birkdale was much more kind than it was nine years ago in raging wind and rain. The 146th Open began in cool temperatures, a light rain and a strong wind. Mark O’Meara, a winner at Royal Birkdale in 1998 who is playing in his last British Open, hit the opening tee shot. And then he hit another one. O’Meara’s first shot was lost in the gorse, he made a quadruple-bogey eight and was on his way to an 81. But it wasn’t long before the wind off the Irish Sea pushed along the rain clouds and led to sunshine in the afternoon.
The wind remained strong. The scores were largely good.
Koepka and Spieth led the way, with Paul Casey, Charl Schwartzel and Rafa Cabrera Bello a shot back at four-under par. Charley Hoffman, who is making a habit of starting majors with a flourish, Ian Poulter, Justin Thomas, Richard Bland and Austin Connelly were in at 67.
It was a businesslike day in more ways than one for Thomas, who wore a tie loosely draped around his neck and a cardigan sweater. He wasn’t all about making a fashion statement. Thomas, who shot a 63 in the third round of the US Open, made eagle on the 17th hole to hang around the early leaders.
Hideki Matsuyama was among those at 68.
Kuchar was the US Amateur champion when he played Royal Birkdale in 1998, still not even sure he was going to turn pro. Now he’s on the short list of best players to have never won a major. And the way the majors have gone the last few years, maybe this is his time. Koepka was the seventh straight firsttime winner of a major.
Ko slow in Ohio