Jordan Spieth: Masters champion makes flying start at The Open

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Spieth of the devil: US star tees off from the 2nd at St Andrews

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Carl Markham

16 July 2015

Jordan Spieth's early first-round form at the 144th Open Championship merely served to fuel the hype which is accompanying his bid to secure the third leg of an unprecedented single-season grand slam.

The American, winner of the first two majors of the year, quickly moved to five under after seven holes in benign conditions at St Andrews, just one off the lead.

But it was a different story for former world number one Tiger Woods, who won the Claret Jug on the Old Course in 2000 and 2005, as his on-going struggles with his game continued despite adopting a more conservative approach on the east Fife links.

The winner of 14 majors was three over after five holes at a time the majority of the field were taking advantage of scoring conditions likely to be the best of the week to go under par.

On Wednesday Spieth had distanced himself from comparisons from Woods - insisting those sort of assessments should be reserved for much later in his career - and on the basis of today's opening round the 21-year-old was correct in his assertion, albeit for different reasons.

Spieth birdied the first two holes from inside 12 feet while Woods, two groups behind, made a mess of both.

His first-hole problems refused to go away and although the opening tee shot - his most troublesome in recent times - was a straightforward one aiming at the widest fairway in golf with an iron, he then somehow managed to dump his approach to the green into the burn and make a bogey five.

Woods took another iron off the tee at the next but another mis-hit approach came up 30 yards short and a 20-foot par putt lipped out.

Another iron off the tee resulted in par at the third and having taken driver on the fourth - arguably his most problematic club - he found both fairway and the green in regulation and two-putted from 60 feet for par.

A pulled drive at the long fifth and a three-putt for bogey saw him drop to three over.

Spieth had no such problems at the 570-yard par five which he reached in two and two-putted from 45 feet for birdie, with two more birdies following at the sixth and seventh to get to five under.

He left another birdie attempt from 25 feet at the next inches short but looked in ominous form as he approached the turn.

Up ahead Robert Streb topped the leaderboard on six under, just in front of veteran two-time major winner Retief Goosen who was making the most of coming through a play-off in final qualifying to be five under.

Big-hitting American Dustin Johnson carded the tournament's first eagle after a brilliant approach to the fifth helped him to four under.

England's Greg Owen, out in the first group at 0632, posted the clubhouse lead on four under after the rarefied atmosphere got the better of debutant David Lingmerth, whose remarkable seven-under par outward nine of 29 was followed with three dropped shots on the way back in as he carded a 69.

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Jordan Spieth: Masters champion makes flying start at The Open

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