Jordan Spieth off to hot start at 2017 Open Championship

Jordan Spieth holds a share of the early Open Championship lead, tied with Brooks Koepka at five-under par.

Jordan Spieth, just five years into a career that has already propelled him to the top of the golf world, knows the type of test The Open Championship can be. Two years ago, Spieth was on the verge of a third straight major win at St. Andrews, but he fell a single stroke short of a playoff. This year, however, he’s a strong contender early on at Royal Birkdale, with an early share of the clubhouse lead.

If you live in the United States (and decided to sleep at all), you likely missed most of Spieth’s round. He teed off with Henrik Stenson and Si Woo Kim at 9:47AM British Summer Time. That’s 4:47 on the East Coast, and 1:47 for the night owls on the West Coast. While that may have been a struggle for us Yanks, though, it turned out to be a solid draw for the former World. No. 1.

It simply wouldn’t be an Open Championship without winds and rain playing havoc with the field, and that’s exactly what happened to several early players. As those morning clouds began to dissipate, scoring conditions got a bit easier, and Spieth took full advantage.

Efficiency defined Spieth’s opening round at Royal Birkdale

Even hitting just 36 percent of his fairways, Spieth was still able to reach 15 of 18 greens in regulation. Spieth needed just 29 putts to get around, carding his first ever bogey-free Open round. He left feeling great about his chances with Friday’s gloomy forecast.

More from Pro Golf Now

"“I thought today’s round was extremely important, as they all are, but given the forecast coming in, I thought you really needed to be in the red today,” Spieth said. “You can certainly make up ground, in a round like tomorrow, and we’ll see it happen, but being able to kind of play with shots or play a little more conservatively, you make a bogey, because you don’t try to do too much on a day like tomorrow, that’s nice and very helpful."

There’s still plenty of action ongoing at The Open, with players like Matt Kuchar, Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas and Ian Poulter going low. Will Spieth be able to convert this hot start into his third major championship? Only time will tell, but there’s no better way to end a round than looking at your name on top of the leaderboard.

Next: Amateurs in The Open Championship field

Spieth’s work has just begun but it was a fine beginning for the man from Texas who is trying to complete the third leg of golf’s Grand Slam. He’ll need to hold the pace through Friday, with weather predicted to worsen, if he’s to put his hands on the Claret Jug this year.

Home/British Open News