Spieth platform set to challenge in Open
Jordan Spieth hits his second shot on the 18th during the first round of the 146th Open at Royal Birkdale. Inset: Ian Poulter thanks the fans Bland, with Welshman Stuart Manley part of a group on two under on his Open debut.
The 65s of Ryder Cup teammates Spieth and Koepka equalled the second lowest first-round score in an Open at Birkdale, a shot outside Craig Stadler’s record of 64 set in 1983.
But after hitting just five of 14 fairways, Spieth knew there was room for improvement as he looks to add the Open title to his Masters and US Open victories in 2015.
“I thought the round was extremely important, as they all are, but given the forecast coming in, I thought you really needed to be in the red (under par),” the 23-year-old said.
“Everything was strong. I give it a nine across the board for everything - tee balls, ball-striking, short game and putting. So things are in check. It’s just about keeping it consistent.
“I’d call it a top five major round that I’ve played. There are scores that I’ve shot that were closer to par that were better given what I needed to do.
“But I couldn’t have done much better. I essentially missed two greens in some 15mph winds.”
Spieth had not played competitively since winning the Travelers Championship on his last start three weeks ago by holing a bunker shot on the first hole of a play-off with Daniel Berger.
And Koepka had been inactive for a week longer since claiming his first major title in the US Open at Erin Hills, where his 16-under-par total equalled the tournament record set by Rory McIlroy in 2011.
A revitalised Ian Poulter expressed his pride at completing the transition from commentator to contender.
“I’ve definitely had some low spots in the last 18 months,” he said, after missing out last year with injury.
“So I’m proud of the way I’ve been able to refocus, get things back on the straight and narrow, clear away some of the noise in the background and get back to really focusing hard on what I need to do to get the level of golf back that I think I can play.” WHILE European Tour golfers Chris Hanson (Woodsome Hall) and Marcus Armitage (Howley Hall) are not involved in the Open Championship, that doesn’t mean there is no Huddersfield involvement.
One of the huge team of groundsmen who volunteer to help at the only home major is Richard Holmes.
The Crosland Heath head greenkeeper is part of the bunker-raking team at Royal Birkdale and, in the first round, he was assigned to the 3.32pm tee-off group of Kevin Na (USA), Paul Waring (England) and Kyle Stanley (USA).
Holmes – well known as one of the top wicketkeepers in the Drakes Huddersfield League with Scholes – has been part of the Open groundstaff for more than a decade. ■■Chief executive Martin Slumbers insists the R&A has no regrets about the decision to ditch terrestrial television after labelling the BBC’s Open coverage “tired and outdated”.
Sky Sports took over live broadcasting of the world’s oldest major championship last summer after the BBC exited its deal one year early to switch to a highlights package as part of a cost-cutting exercise. Sky have introduced many new initiatives.