An All-American start to the Open
Spieth, Koepka, Kuchar finish 1st round tied atop the leaderboard at 5-under
SOUTHPORT, England — The wind off the Irish Sea pushed away the rain clouds and bathed Royal Birkdale in sunshine, Stars and Stripes.
The British Open began Thursday with an AllAmerican flavor.
Jordan Spieth, chomping away on gum as he watched one putt after another pour into the center of the cup, worked some bunker magic late in the round to keep his card filled only with birdies and pars for a 5-under 65. He was tied for the lead with U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka and Matt Kuchar.
Koepka, with no competition and barely any practice since capturing his first major a month ago, ran off three straight birdies and holed a tough shot from a pot bunker for eagle on the par-5 17th hole.
Kuchar, who first endeared himself to these British fans as a 19-year-old amateur in 1998 at Royal Birkdale, tied the course record with a 29 on the front nine, only to fall into a routine of pars the rest of the way. He still shot 65, his best score ever in a major.
They were a stroke ahead of Paul Casey and Charl Schwartzel on a day that started nasty and ended with 39 players breaking par. The biggest question after a long day on the links was what was in store for Friday, when high wind and occasional showers were in the forecast.
“I thought today’s round was extremely important, as they all are,” Spieth said, atop the leaderboard at a major for the first time since last year’s Masters. “But given the forecast coming in, I thought you really needed to be in the red today. You can certainly make up ground in a round tomorrow, and we’ll see it happen. But being able to kind of play with shots, or play a little more conservative because you don’t try to do too much on a day like tomorrow, that’s nice and very helpful.”
Dustin Johnson and Rory McIlroy fall into that category.
Johnson, the No. 1 player who hasn’t played the weekend at a major since the British Open last year, managed only one birdie on a decent day for scoring and shot 71. McIlroy also shot 71 and was relieved. Coming off three missed cuts in his last four events, he was 5 over through six holes when his caddie gave him a pep talk. McIlroy closed with three birdies over the last four holes to stay in the game.
Phil Mickelson failed to make a birdie, the first time that has happened in a major in five years, and shot 73.
Kuchar was the only