Silky Spieth off to good start at Open, Woods woeful

ST ANDREWS, UINTED KINGDOM

Jordan Spieth got his Open campaign off to a promising start at St Andrews on Thursday, but in the end he had to bow to playing partner Dustin Johnson.

Tiger Woods meanwhile had another round of major misery and already he is facing a battle to avoid a third missed cut in the last four majors.

Spieth got the better of Johnson on the 18th hole last month when he added the US Open to his breakthrough win in April at the Masters.

But no hard feelings were evident between the American pair as they happily bantered away together and bagged birdies on a morning of low scoring.

Both reached the turn at five under 31 after which it was Johnson who excelled down the more difficult back nine.

He moved out to seven under 65, while Spieth’s normally reliable putter suddenly sputtered, coughing up bogeys at 13 and 17, the notorious Road Hole.

The 21-year-old Texan, however, sunk a snaking 20-footer for birdie at the last and a round of 67.

Both Americans clearly stated their case that they are among the main men to beat at the fabled Old Course this week. In the absence of the injured Rory McIlroy, Spieth is the focal point of the tournament as he can add the British open crown to the Masters and US Open titles he already owns, thus becoming just the second player, after Ben Hogan in 1953, to do so.

Johnson just wants to win a major after near misses in all four Grand Slam tournaments in recent years.

His mid-morning draw, he agreed, had been beneficial. “Everybody knows the weather Friday and Saturday is going to be very difficult.”