British Open Round 1: Spieth and DJ rolling, Tiger stumbling
ST. ANDREWS, Scotland — It’s a beautiful day in Scotland for pretty much everybody except Tiger Woods. Grab your coffee and let us take you through what’s happened at the 144th British Open while you were asleep.
• Short version: Jordan Spieth is near the top of the leaderboard again. What more do you need to know?
• All right, fine. Spieth, who won both the Masters and the U.S. Open and is seeking to become the first modern player to win the Grand Slam, began his day in fine fashion with birdies on five of the first seven holes. After all the nattering from old-line golf types about how Spieth shouldn’t have played the John Deere Classic (a tournament he won) last weekend and should have arrived in Scotland early to prep, the Texas kid could not have played the opening holes any better, finishing his opening nine at 5-under, one stroke off the lead. Spieth flattened a bit on the back nine, but dropped in a lengthy birdie putt on 18 to finish with a 5-under 67.
• On the very first par 5 Dustin Johnson faced since that catastrophic one at the U.S. Open, he rolled in an eagle to drop his score to 4-under on the day. He added another birdie along the way and tied for the lead by the 10th hole, quieting for the moment any talk that he might be rattled by that collapse at Chambers Bay. Johnson wound up with a 7-under 65 to make him the early clubhouse leader.
[Slideshow: Tour The Old Course of St. Andrews]
• At the other end of the leaderboard sits Woods, who actually did come to St. Andrews early … for all the good it did him. On the easiest day in recent British Open memory, Woods began his round with a Sammy Hagar (that would be 5-5) and didn’t get much better from there, finishing the front nine at 4-over. He played better on the back, relatively, shooting even par to finish his Round 1 at 4-over, two strokes better than Kevin Streelman, who’s in last place. It was Woods’ worst round at St. Andrews as a pro.
“Not ideal,” Woods said after his round. “I just got to fight through it.”
• Robert Streb. David Lingmerth. Greg Owen. These aren’t the guys organizing your company softball outing, they’re among the leaders at the British Open. Lingmerth in particular showed how fleeting Open success can be; he dove the deepest below par on the day, at one point reaching 7-under, but gave most of it back on the back nine. Owen posted the early clubhouse lead with a 68, and Streb rolled in half a mile of mid-round birdie putts to hold the top spot on the leaderboard for much of the morning. Streb’s in at 6-under 66 and is the current clubhouse leader.
• Amateur Jordan Niebrugge, a 21-year-old who plays his college golf at Oklahoma State, is in at 5-under 67, just two shots off the lead.
• Tom Watson, playing in his final British Open, dipped below par early on but gave it all back with double bogeys on 13 and 16. He’s 2-over. Bubba Watson, never a fan of links golf, started the day by reaching 3-under. Notables such as Phil Mickelson, Rickie Fowler and Adam Scott teed off right around the time the East Coast gets into work.
• The weather at St. Andrews began deceptively beautiful, with sunshine, warm temperatures and almost no wind. But nobody was fooled; the nasty stuff is on its way, with clouds and sprinkles rolling in at midday. Anyone who didn’t post a low score early in the morning likely wouldn’t get another chance until the weekend, at best.
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Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at [email protected] or find him on Twitter.
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