Ian Poulter and Jordan Spieth set early pace at Open in winds and rain of Royal Birkdale
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ByEurosport
Updated 20/07/2017 at 17:06 GMT
England's Ian Poulter made light of tough conditions to shoot a rock-solid 67 in the British Open first round at Royal Birkdale on Thursday and move behind American leaders Jordan Spieth and Brooks Koepka.
England's Ian Poulter took an early lead on two-under-par at the 146th Open Championshi[, which began on Thursday, rolling in two birdie putts on the second and fourth holes.
Image credit: Eurosport
Poulter, runner-up in the 2008 Open on this course, rattled in four birdies and made only one bogey as rain and strong crosswinds caused problems for the early starters.
Poulter, who has never won a major, came through qualifying to earn a place in the tournament after a series of injuries in 2016.
He told reporters on Thursday: "I've definitely had some low spots in the last 18 months and I was getting very down.
"I'm proud of the way I've been able to get things back on the straight and get back to really focusing hard on what I need to do to get the level of golf back that I think I can play."
Spieth, the world number three and twice major champion, putted smoothly to move to four under after 14 holes and Koepka, who won the U.S. Open last month, birdied the 11th and 12th holes to join him atop the leaderboard.
"That was one of my top five rounds at a major," the 23-year-old said afterwards. "I'd give myself a nine [out of 10]."
Welshman Stuart Manley, the world number 520, chipped in from a bunker for an eagle at the 17th before picking up a birdie at the last hole to complete a round of 68.
Sweden's Alex Noren, one of the form players on the European Tour this year, also carded 68.
Defending champion Henrik Stenson of Sweden and world number two Hideki Matsuyama of Japan were among a bunch of players on one under after 12 holes.
Experienced American Mark O'Meara endured a day to forget on his return to the course where he won the 1998 Open.
Handed the honour of hitting the first shot of the tournament, O'Meara sent his drive out of bounds before running up a quadruple-bogey eight and he ended up signing for an ugly round of 81.
World number one Dustin Johnson, four-times major champion Rory McIlroy and American Phil Mickelson, runner-up to Stenson last year, were among the late starters.
Leaderboard
Holes played rounds
-5 Matt Kuchar (U.S.) 14
Jordan Spieth (U.S.) 18 65
Brooks Koepka (U.S.) 18 65
-3 Richard Bland (Britain) 18 67
Justin Thomas (U.S.) 18 67
Ian Poulter (Britain) 18 67
David Lipsky (U.S.) 15
Charley Hoffman (U.S.) 13
Austin Connelly (Canada) 18 67
Martin Laird (Britain) 17
Ernie Els (South Africa) 17
Xander Schauffele (U.S.) 5
-2 Kevin Na (U.S.) 6
Joost Luiten (Netherlands) 15
Paul Casey (Britain) 14
Alexander Noren (Sweden) 18 68
Stuart Manley (Britain) 18 68
Hideki Matsuyama (Japan) 18 68
James Hahn (U.S.) 18 68
Kang Sung-Hoon (Korea) 18 68
-1 Robert Streb (U.S.) 18 69
Andrew Johnston (Britain) 18 69
Thomas Pieters (Belgium) 18 69
Henrik Stenson (Sweden) 18 69
Matthew Fitzpatrick (Britain) 18 69
Richie Ramsay (Britain) 14
Jason Day (Australia) 15
Thorbjorn Olesen (Denmark) 12
Bernd Wiesberger (Austria) 17
Aaron Baddeley (Australia) 16
Rafael Cabrera-Bello (Spain) 7
Li Haotong (China) 4
Ashley Hall (Australia) 4
Kyle Stanley (U.S.) 6
Paul Lawrie (Britain) 9
0 Charl Schwartzel (South Africa) 9
Pablo Larrazabal (Spain) 10
Dustin Johnson (U.S.) 9
Daniel Berger (U.S.) 11
Marc Leishman (Australia) 7
Scott Hend (Australia) 7
Andrew Dodt (Australia) 5
Jbe Kruger (South Africa) 4
Nick McCarthy (Britain) 4
Laurie Canter (Britain) 3
Haydn McCullen (Britain) 4
Kent Bulle (U.S.) 5
Bubba Watson (U.S.) 7
Ross Fisher (Britain) 17
Brian Harman (U.S.) 17
Kevin Kisner (U.S.) 13
Rickie Fowler (U.S.) 14
Adam Scott (Australia) 14
Steve Stricker (U.S.) 18 70
Branden Grace (South Africa) 18 70
Thongchai Jaidee (Thailand) 18 70
Gary Woodland (U.S.) 18 70
Russell Henley (U.S.) 18 70
Kim Si Woo (Korea) 18 70
Toby Tree (Britain) 18 70
Tony Finau (U.S.) 18 70
Matthew Griffin (Australia) 18 70
1 Chang Yi-Keun (Korea) 18 71
Jamie Lovemark (U.S.) 18 71
Adam Hadwin (Canada) 18 71
Justin Rose (Britain) 18 71
J.B. Holmes (U.S.) 18 71
Shaun Norris (South Africa) 18 71
Alexander Levy (France) 18 71
Webb Simpson (U.S.) 18 71
Alfie Plant (Britain) 18 71
Darren Fichardt (South Africa) 18 71
Soren Kjeldsen (Denmark) 18 71
Danny Willett (Britain) 18 71
Chris Wood (Britain) 18 71
Song Young-Han (Korea) 18 71
Andy Sullivan (Britain) 15
David Drysdale (Britain) 13
Bill Haas (U.S.) 18 71
Paul Waring (Britain) 6
Juan Sebastian Munoz (Colombia) 3
Lee Westwood (Britain) 8
Patrick Reed (U.S.) 8
Jon Rahm (Spain) 8
2 Phil Mickelson (U.S.) 7
Kevin Chappell (U.S.) 10
Yusaku Miyazato (Japan) 9
Ryan McCarthy (Australia) 3
Matthew Southgate (Britain) 18 72
Jimmy Walker (U.S.) 12
Tom Lehman (U.S.) 18 72
Peter Uihlein (U.S.) 18 72
Chan Kim (U.S.) 18 72
Shane Lowry (Ireland) 18 72
Joe Dean (Britain) 18 72
3 Connor Syme (Britain) 18 73
Shiv Kapur (India) 18 73
Anirban Lahiri (India) 18 73
Padraig Harrington (Ireland) 18 73
Dylan Frittelli (South Africa) 18 73
Kim Kyung-Tae (Korea) 18 73
Jason Dufner (U.S.) 18 73
Ryan Fox (New Zealand) 14
Michael Hendry (New Zealand) 17
Sergio Garcia (Spain) 15
Kim Giwhan (Korea) 5
Jhonattan Vegas (Venezuela) 12
4 Yuta Ikeda (Japan) 11
Zach Johnson (U.S.) 15
Martin Kaymer (Germany) 16
Callum Shinkwin (Britain) 18 74
Cameron Smith (Australia) 18 74
Hideto Tanihara (Japan) 12
Russell Knox (Britain) 18 74
Charles Howell III (U.S.) 18 74
Ryan Moore (U.S.) 18 74
Phachara Khongwatmai (Thailand) 18 74
Pat Perez (U.S.) 18 74
Wesley Bryan (U.S.) 18 74
John Daly (U.S.) 18 74
Matthieu Pavon (France) 18 74
Julian Suri (U.S.) 18 74
5 Alexander Bjoerk (Sweden) 18 75
Adam Bland (Australia) 18 75
Darren Clarke (Britain) 18 75
Luca Cianchetti (Italy) 18 75
Mark Foster (Britain) 18 75
Paul Broadhurst (Britain) 18 75
Michael Lorenzo-Vera (France) 18 75
David Horsey (Britain) 18 75
Sean O'Hair (U.S.) 11
Tyrrell Hatton (Britain) 16
Brandon Stone (South Africa) 11
Rory McIlroy (Britain) 9
Francesco Molinari (Italy) 7
6 Bryson DeChambeau (U.S.) 18 76
Prayad Marksaeng (Thailand) 18 76
Emiliano Grillo (Argentina) 18 76
Billy Horschel (U.S.) 18 76
Roberto Castro (U.S.) 18 76
Tommy Fleetwood (Britain) 18 76
Brendan Steele (U.S.) 18 76
7 Fabrizio Zanotti (Paraguay) 18 77
Harry Ellis (Britain) 18 77
An Byeong Hun (Korea) 18 77
Sandy Lyle (Britain) 18 77
Stewart Cink (U.S.) 18 77
Wang Jeunghun (Korea) 18 77
William McGirt (U.S.) 18 77
Robert Dinwiddie (Britain) 18 77
8 Maverick McNealy (U.S.) 18 78
Louis Oosthuizen (South Africa) 18 78
9 David Duval (U.S.) 18 79
Todd Hamilton (U.S.) 18 79
10 Adam Hodkinson (Britain) 18 80
11 Mark O'Meara (U.S.) 18 81
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