Spieth, Koepka lead the way in opening round at British Open
SOUTHPORT, England (AP) — Two great bunker shots by Jordan Spieth and Brooks Koepka – one for par, one for eagle – led to a 5-under 65 for each of them in the opening round of the British Open.
Koepka, with no competition and very little golf since winning the U.S. Open last month, was in a pot bunker short of the green on the par-5 17th when he blasted out and watched it roll into the cup for an eagle that allowed him to share the lead with Spieth among the early starters today at Royal Birkdale.
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 today – picked up a two-putt birdie on the 17th and narrowly missed a 7-foot birdie putt on the last. It was Spieth's best start in a major since he opened with a 66 at the Masters a year ago.