Spieth in tie for lead at British Open as rivals trail

But the Floridian has never played in the final group in a major.

Dan Geraghty’s each-way pick, Brooks Koepka, is alongside Spieth and he’s the first reigning US Open champ to lead or co-lead the Open Championship after round one since Lee Trevino at Royal Birkdale, way back in 1971.

Grace wound up seven shots behind even after his 62.

After a lovely day that made for ideal scoring conditions, some weather is moving into the British Open. Though he made two more bogeys at 14 and 16, he slipped in an eagle at 15 to play the back in 2-under 34.

Only five men have won all of golf’s four majors at some stage in their career – Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Nicklaus and Woods.

More than half the field broke par.

Masters champion Sergio Garcia signed for a 73.

Spieth was the only competitor to shoot in the 60s on both days of competition.

Joining them was Matt Kuchar, who first endeared himself to these British fans as a 19-year-old amateur in 1998 at Royal Birkdale.

“It’s still The Open and I shot six-over”, he said, “but to be honest I’m just thinking about playing tomorrow”.

Kuchar got one back with a birdie from the pot bunker short of the green at the par-5 17th.

Slumping Rory McIlroy may have found a spark with four birdies in his last eight holes to shoot 71, joined there by world No. 1 Dustin Johnson. But McIlroy made a double bogey on the 10th hole and was at 1 under.

Ian Poulter felt even worse.

It was a fine return to the big stage for Poulter, who had not appeared at a major since the Masters previous year and had to settle for a role as a television commentator at the Open 12 months ago while sidelined through injury.

Jordan Spieth enters Round 3 leading by two shots at 6-under.

McIlroy had a 69, rarely a bad score in the third round of a major. Spieth clenched his fist when it dropped for birdie, and then Kuchar missed from about 12 feet. SportsLine is calling for a top-three finish for McIlroy come Sunday.

Matt Kuchar moved into a tie for the lead in the British Open – but only for the briefest of moments. But Spieth had a tap-in for a birdie of his own, and quickly regained the top spot at 7 under.

McIlroy hasn’t missed the cut at consecutive majors since 2010 (Masters, U.S. Open) and is taking confidence from winning the Deutsche Bank Championship in Boston in September previous year after being 4 over through three holes. Kuchar sits in second place at -4, and he leads contenders in experience in these situations as the ranking veteran. “Very pleased with the score”.

With rain and strong wind expected in today’s second round, Spieth added that it was important to get off to a good start in the tournament. “It’s close. I’m playing a lot of shots that are going into the first cut, which is going to happen a lot round here with the narrow fairways, and you need to play away from bunkers too which leads to some shots out of the rough”. While winning the U.S. Open, he proved he could make birdies in bunches, so expect him to bounce back Saturday if the weather improves.

Though it seemed like a reprieve the fundamental flaws that produced the opening calamity would contribute to a run of four consecutive bogeys from the third hole, the last resulting from a missed par putt from inside four feet.

“I’ve definitely had some low spots in the last 18 months and I was getting very down”, the 41-year-old said. Therefore, he knows what to say or not.