Dustin Johnson Leads British Open After First Round; Spieth Close Behind
ST. ANDREWS, SCOTLAND (CBSLA.com) — Jordan Spieth is going for his third major in a row at The Old Course in St. Andrews, Scotland, but fellow-American Dustin Johnson has the early lead after the first round.
Johnson is atop the leader board after shooting a 65 to put him at seven under par after the first round of play. Phenom Jordan Spieth shot a 67 to put him in a tie for eighth place, at five under par.
Spieth however, is coming off wins at both The Masters, and The U.S. Open and with a win at St. Andrews, he would become just the second golfer ever to win three majors in a single season with a win at the Old Course at St. Andrews. Ben Hogan last accomplished this feat in 1953.
Amazingly, Jordan Spieth and Tiger Woods have played 19 rounds in the same tournament this year, and Spieth leads Woods by a massive 110 strokes already.
Behind Johnson at six under par are Australian Jason Day, South African Retief Goosen, American's Zach Johnson and Robert Streb, Brit Danny Willett, and Scot Paul Lawrie.
American's Kevin Na and Jordan Niebrugge along with South African's Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel are tied with Spieth at five under which is good for eighth place.
Tiger Woods found the water hazard at the first hole at St. Andrews, and did not have the round he had hoped for, shooting a 76 to put him at four above par, as he sits in 139th place. The three-time winner bogeyed his first two holes despite winning the British Open at St. Andrews twice before in 2005 and 2000.
In what will be his farewell to the British Open, Tom Watson also shot a 76, in what likely will be his second-t0-last round as a professional golfer playing in the British Open.
Watson has a scheduled tee time of 5:34 AM PST for those who want to watch the legend play in what could be his final round at the British Open. The cut is projected to be 70 after the first round, with scores at Even or higher not making the cut to play in the final two rounds of the tournament.
At the moment, both Tom Watson and Tiger Woods are not projected to make the cut.
Dustin Johnson and Spieth recently battled at the U.S. Open, when Johnson three-putted on the last hole to give Spieth a one-shot victory, and the U.S. Open Championship.
Action will pick back up very early Friday morning, as the tournament in Scotland is set to begin at 6:33 AM British Standard Time when the first group tees off for the second round, as they are eight hours ahead of PST.
NOTABLE FRIDAY TEE TIMES (ALL TIMES IN PST)
11:38 PM - Padraig Harrington (E)
12:11 AM - Danny Willett (-5)
1:33 AM - Phil Mickelson (-2), Henrik Stenson (+1), Matt Kuchar (-1)
1:44 AM - Justin Rose (-1), Rickie Fowler (E) , Sir Nick Faldo (+11)
4:06 AM - David Lingmerth (-3)
4:17 AM - Robert Streb (-6)
4:39 AM - Charley Hoffman (E), Kevin Na (-5)
5:34 AM - Tom Watson (+4)
6:01 AM - Bubba Watson (-1), Charl Schwartzel (-5)
6:34 AM - Jordan Spieth (-5), Hideki Matsuyama (E), Dustin Johnson (-7) *HEADLINE GROUP
6:56 AM - Jason Day (-6), Tiger Woods (+4), Louis Oosthuizen (-5)
See the full list of Friday's tee times here
See the full leaderboard at the 2015 Open Championship Here
Television coverage begins at 1:00 AM PST, and around that time the group of Mickelson, Stenson and Kuchar will likely be getting ready to tee off.