New irons, same Jordan Spieth in the Old World.
The three-time major winner, whose magical Sunday back nine at Royal Birkdale in 2017 earned him his Claret Jug, once again unleashed his supreme links talents on Thursday in the first round of the 149th playing of the British Open.
Using Titleist’s latest version of its new T100 irons and relying on his old reliable Scotty Cameron putter, Spieth signed for a 5-under-par 65 at Royal St. George’s in Sandwich, England, and took up residence high up on the famous yellow leaderboards bright with red numbers.
It should be noted that Spieth also opened with a 65 at Royal Birkdale. This 65 put him one shot behind clubhouse leader and 2010 Open champion Louis Oosthuizen, who has finished in ties for second in the past two major championships. Joining Spieth at 65 was Brian Harman, who missed the cut in his most recent four starts in the British Open.
Reigning Champion Golfer of the Year Shane Lowry shot 71.
“I’ve really loved this tournament,” Spieth said. “Played well here, whether I’ve come in in form or not.”
On a pleasant day that broke with sunshine and featured stiff but manageable breezes, Spieth gave a clinic in how to plays links golf – attack when the wind is at your back, flight the ball accordingly, use an assortment of clubs off the tees to get in prime position, successfully scramble when you get out of position.
And take advantage of softened greens running a tad on the slower side.
Spieth made four consecutive birdies starting at the fifth and went out in 3-under 32. He added back-to-back birdies at 15 and 16 and finished his round with a solid 4-footer for par. On the day, he made four putts outside of 20 feet.
Spieth, who was one shot out of a playoff in 2015 at St. Andrews and finished in a tie for fourth then tied for ninth in 2018 at Carnoustie, said he immediately fell in love with links golf in his first trip across the pond in 2007.
He calls on his imagination required to conquer links courses, doesn’t shy from crafting creative shots in the heavy air and doesn’t fear the large sloping greens.
“I think (links golf) brings a lot of the feel aspect into the game,” said Spieth, who has eight top-10s this year and has risen from 92nd in the world rankings to 23rd. “I think I shorten swings up over here and hit more punch shots and just stuff that I probably should be doing at home. I get less swing-focused and more shot-focused over here because the second you take your brain off what you’re hitting, you may not find your ball.”
Spieth, who ended his victory drought earlier this year when he won the Valero Texas Open, his first win since the 2017 Open Championship, had just one concern heading to the first tee – rust. He hadn’t played since the U.S. Open.
“I felt pretty good about the work that I had done over the last, say, week and a half or so, but when you haven’t played for a little while, you come into a difficult track, you can have a bit of rust early, and I was a little bit concerned about that,” Spieth said. “I think midway through the front nine today kind of turning under par was just big to feel like hey, we’re in the thick of things.”
Spieth has certainly turned the corner after grinding through a dry spell when he was stuck on 11 PGA Tour titles for nearly four years. He’ll tell you he’s still grinding; but now it just feels better when your work produces rewards inside the gallery ropes.
“The path that I’m on and where I’ve been before in the game, I feel really good about my chances going forward, as good as they have been historically,” he said. “I feel like I’ve been trending the right way and certainly had a chance this year already at Augusta. I like where I’m at.
“Golf is a game played between the ears, right. When it’s not going great, you can certainly lose quite a bit of confidence in it. That was the first time I’ve had to really try and build confidence back up, and it takes time. It’s a combination of obviously getting things figured out mechanically but also then putting it to the test and mentally stepping up with enough oomph to go ahead and pull off some shots, and that’s how you build the confidence.
“By no means do I feel like I’m where I want to be mechanically yet, but this year has been a really, really good progression for me, and that’s all I’m trying to do is just get a little bit better each day.”