ST ANDREWS, Scotland — The weather held, sort of, and so did the expectations of fans for many of the current hot golfers in Thursday’s first round of the British Open on the revered Old Course.
ST ANDREWS, Scotland — The weather held, sort of, and so did the expectations of fans for many of the current hot golfers in Thursday’s first round of the British Open on the revered Old Course.
Dustin Johnson continued to hit the ball with the promise of superstardom to come. He led the tournament with a seven-under-par 65.
That was a shot ahead of six others: two-time U.S. Open champion Retief Goosen of South Africa; 28-year-old British Open first-timer Robert Streb of Chickasha, Okla.; Scotland’s own ‘99 British winner Paul Lawrie, who like Goosen is 46; former Masters champion Zach Johnson; frequent tour contender Jason Day, and England’s Danny Willett, who has missed the cut two of his three tries in this tournament.
Then there were five more at 67: 2010 British Open champion Louis Oosthuizen; former Masters champion Charl Schwartzel; Kevin Na of Diamond Bar, Calif.; and 21-year-old amateur Jordan Niebrugge of Milwaukee suburb Mequon, Wis.
Also, some guy named Jordan Spieth.
Spieth, of course, is chasing his third straight major title. He won the Masters wire-to-wire in April and then took the U.S. Open last month, when Dustin Johnson three-putted the 72nd hole.
The golf world seems to await the natural crack to come in Spieth’s current near-invincibility. He is, after all, just 21 years old.
But there was no cracking Thursday.
He got right into the mix early, playing alongside Dustin Johnson. And even when Spieth slipped a bit by bogeying a 17th hole that was playing an almost-impossible-to-par-four, he bounced right back with a 15-foot, left-to-right, sidewinder birdie putt on No. 18.
The bad weather — gale-force winds with rain and general Scottish misery — is expected to hit here Friday, and Spieth was asked whether the real British Open will start then, with the bad weather.
“No, the real British Open started today,” he said. “You need to put yourself in good position to have some shots to spare and not worry about a cut line or anything.”
Spieth said that playing in the same group with the long-hitting Johnson is both impressive and inspirational.
“I saw a 65 in our group,” he said. “And if D.J. keeps driving it the way he is, then I’m going to have to play my best golf to have a chance. … It’s hard to argue with somebody who’s splitting bunkers at about 380 yards. … I don’t have that in my bag, so I’ve got to make up for it with ball-striking.”
Johnson, who made five birdies and an eagle, quickly dismissed the concept that he would struggle here while trying to recover emotionally from his crushing U.S. Open finish at Chambers Bay.
“Nothing bad happened at Chambers Bay,” he said. “I wasn’t disappointed, really. I played really well. Did everything I was supposed to. I couldn’t control what the ball was doing on the greens there.”
Johnson also said, “It’s kind of hard to beat St. Andrews or an Open championship,” Johnson said. “I really like the golf course. It sets up well for me.”
Goosen’s best finishes in the British have been at St. Andrews, a fifth and a sixth. He won the U.S. Open in 2001 and 2004.
Streb played at Kansas State and won this season’s McGladrey Classic. Lawrie is best remembered for winning the British in a playoff after France’s Jean Van de Velde decided to try and hit out of a pond on the 72nd hole.
Day, an Australian, contended at Chambers Bay, even after being felled by a bout of vertigo on the course. Zach Johnson, the opposite of his long-hitting namesake, Dustin, won the 2007 Masters by laying up on all the par-five holes. Willett is 27, has won twice on the European tour, and played at Jacksonville State University.
Phil Mickelson, 2013 champion, was quietly in the picture with a two-under 70.
Tiger Woods, three-time British champion — twice here — continued to maintain that he is finding his way back to form. But he shot 76 and was virtually out of contention to make the cut.
“I’ve just got to fight, fight through it,” Woods said.