Jordan Spieth’s bid for a second claret jug is off to a strong start.
Spieth, who won The Open back in 2017 at Royal Birkdale, shook off an early bogey on the third hole Thursday at Royal St. George’s and rattled off four straight birdies on his front nine before going on to fire an opening 5-under 65.
Spieth began the birdie run by holing a 25-footer from the front edge of the green at the par-4 fifth.
He then hit a beauty off the tee at the 175-yard, par-3 sixth before draining a 10-footer.
The third birdie came at the par-5 seventh before Spieth holed the fourth at the par-4 eighth to move to 3 under, one shot off the lead at the time.
After a birdie at the par-4 15th, he capped his six-birdie day and momentarily took a one-shot lead by draining another 25-footer, this time at the par-3 16th.
Spieth owns three top-10s and hasn’t missed a cut in seven Open appearances. In 2017, Spieth also opened in 5-under 65 at Birkdale before winning in wire-to-wire fashion.