Jordan Spieth finished off a windy and wet second round of the British Open with a 1-under 69 to take the lead.
“Last year’s Friday round [at Royal Troon]”.
With the early starters having to endure blustery conditions and rain, the task of registering a respectable score was made significantly harder.
Just when he began to slide down the leaderboard, Spieth’s signature scrambling swiftly turned his fortunes around. But he missed a short par putt on the 16th. “I’ve struck the ball better than I did in ’15”.
Jordan Spieth prepared for mind games, Justin Rose said he willl lean on tips gleaned from Roger Federer, Rory McIlroy says he’s a good bet and Henrik Stenson is anxious about skydiving with the Claret Jug. But he hit back with four birdies on the way home, including at 17 and 18.
World No. 3 Spieth, though, thinks the traditional Open weather lottery could discount half the field straight away.
Spieth was at 6-under 134.
Spieth’s two major victories came in 2015 at the U.S. Masters and U.S. Open.
“That was one of my top five rounds at a major”, the 23-year-old told reporters.
“My last round here in 2008 I shot a 69”, said Poulter. “But I enjoy it”.
“A couple of holes I may have played it too safe, but you have to avoid those fairway bunkers”.
While wind was a factor during Spieth’s opening round, stronger gusts are expected to pose a significant challenge on the second day of the tournament. He was at 4-under 136, and it would have been a good bet that he would be leading with the nasty weather that arrived.
QUOTEWORTHY: “Obviously, I’m not happy about it because I nearly screwed up my British Open”. Today is my day. “I get to kick back in the afternoon and watch the guys just try to survive”.
“To be in after two days and be under-par for this championship after the way I started, I’m ecstatic with that”, said McIlroy, who rebounded from a disastrous opening six holes on Thursday when he was five-over to cover the last 27 holes in six-under and now in a position to play the role of pursuer. The biggest break came at No. 10, when the rain was pounding Royal Birkdale. I hit a lot of solid shots off the tee and into the greens.
But as the rain picked up, Spieth chipped in for par, then rolled in a 10-metre birdie putt on 11 followed that with a tee shot to less than a metre on 12. He hit 7-iron to 2 feet for another birdie, and followed that with a attractive pitch to tap-in range for par on the 13th.
Jordan Spieth produced one of his best major championship efforts to take a share of the lead alongside fellow Americans Brooks Koepka and Matt Kuchar after the first round of the British Open.
Dustin Johnson and Rory McIlroy fall into that category.
Later he was joined at the top by Koepka, the US Open champion who has not played a tournament since his triumph at Erin Hills nearly a month ago, and eventually by Kucher, who made five birdies on the front nine before parachuting in.