Open Championship: Jordan Spieth overcomes career-first shank to post solid 69
- Planet Sport writer
- 20 July 2023
The American's round threatened to unravel at one point but he held it together nicely.
Jordan Spieth's first round at the 151st Open Championship was ruined by two bad holes as a career-first shank spooked the former champion before he recovered to post a two-under-par 69.
The American, a winner at Birkdale in 2017, carded a double-bogey six on the eighth at Royal Liverpool after losing a ball when his approach skewed way off line.
Birdies at the 11th, 15th and 16th got him back to three under only for him to find a fairway bunker at the par-five last which cost him a bogey.
"I just had my face wide open, ball above my feet on a really bad lie, trying to flop cut an eight-iron and I feel like I'm as good as anybody at that shot," he said of his eighth-hole mishap.
"I guess the hosel got there first. I'm not really sure. That shakes you up a little bit.
"I've never hit one before, so it took me a couple of holes to feel like I got my feet back under me.
"At nine there was no chance I was hitting anywhere near the heel, so I toed that one in the bunker and then I was fine after that."
Since winning the Claret Jug in nearby Southport six years ago, Spieth has had just seven top-10 finishes in 23 majors, including being runner-up at Royal St George's in 2021.
But while he sees similarities between Hoylake and Birkdale, he does not believe that will be of much advantage to him this week as his game is not at the elite level it was then.
"I think I would have won on any golf course in 2017 in that time. I had won three weeks before. I had almost won the next two events after. I was just playing that well," he added.
"I don't come out here and think, 'Oh, there's similarities so it fits my game'. It could have been any other venue, I think, and I would have felt pretty good about my chances that week. That is just the golf I was playing.
"I'm focused more on how I'm playing now, what shots I need to fine-tune, and what have I done well that I can continue to push."
