Alexander Levy - Photo: DR - Source: ffgolf

The Star-Spangled Banner floated over the Royal Birkdale on Thursday evening. At the end of the first round of this 146th British Open, three Americans indeed share the orders of the 3rd Major of the season. First of them at the clubhouse, Jordan Spieth offered himself a faultless in the greyness of the windy north of Liverpool. Five birdies and thirteen Pars, for a card of 65 (-5) which allows him to share the leadership with the winner of the US Open Brooks Koepka and the eternal Matt Kuchar. On the Blue side, some regrets and a lot of hopes will accompany the three French players present in England until the start of their second round on Friday afternoon.

Alexander Levy, mastery then dumpling

For his second British (cut missed in 2015), Alexander Levy had almost everything good Thursday morning. Low balls with sauce left-wing well controlled and a solid putting (26 putts in total) to pass the first leg to +1. Then two birdies in quick succession to start the return with a limp chip at 10 and an approach to the mast at 11. With two holes remaining, the Frenchman achieved "Probably the best part of his career on a links". Before an astonishing socket at 17 which did not prevent him from saving the Par from a solid sequence out of the bunker - putt. Then above all a gross careless error at 18. After missing three meters to save Par on his last hole by a point, the four-time winner of the European Tour rushed to push the ball into the hole. On one foot, he missed the target by 30 centimeters for a cruel final double bogey. "Ah that will teach me to finish on one foot! Well this is not the first time, I admit ... he confessed to our colleague from equipe.fr. But I didn't see myself that far from the hole. This is the only thing I can blame myself for today. Since the start of the 18th, I was no longer in it and I paid the price for it directly! ” Finally 58th (+1) at the end of this first round, this Dumpling costs him around twenty places on the leaderboard but leaves him with good hopes after this encouraging first round.

Pavon and Lorenzo-Vera in the hard

Qualified last minute, Matthieu Pavon has not regained his feelings of the Scottish Open (3rd last weekend). Not sufficiently precise in the long game (36% of fairways and 33% of greens in regulation), the Bordelais hung on to return a card of 74 marked only by four bogeys. At +4, he ranks 106th, one stroke ahead of Mike Lorenzo-Vera. Also starting in Major, the Basque conceded four bogeys and a double against a single birdie for a difficult start and a 121st provisional place.

Sébastien Cachard-Berger / ffgolf

To know more : https://www.theopen.com