Friday 21 July 2017 21:41, UK
Jordan Spieth awarded himself a "B grade" after taking a two-shot lead at the halfway stage of The 146th Open at Royal Birkdale.
The 23-year-old American carded a one-under-par 69 in the wind and rain on Friday afternoon to move to six-under 134 after 36 holes.
Spieth had started the day in a three-way tie for the lead with compatriots Brooks Koepka and Matt Kuchar and moved out in front with a birdie at the first.
The world No 3 dropped shots at the third and ninth before rescuing a par at the 10th by chipping in from off the green, and he admitted that this and the subsequent 20-minute rain delay had been the turning point in his round.
He returned to action after the break with back-to-back birdies at the 11th and 12th and then sandwiched an eagle at the par-five 15th with two bogeys on an eventful back nine.
"I give myself a B grade today which is giving myself some credit," Spieth told Sky Sports.
"I got pretty frustrated through the turn there in the middle of the round, just hitting it in pot bunker after pot bunker, squeaking out pars somehow. But I thought we did a really good job once that horn blew and we had a few minutes to kind of sit back.
"I chipped in right before it and it couldn't have been better timing. I was very fortunate to have the horn blow at that moment in time and I could sit back and regroup and almost play the last eight holes as a new round. We were able to do so very well on the last eight.
"I thought that I didn't get everything out of yesterday's round and I thought I got more than what I deserved today. So I'm playing about where my score stands I think.
"[I will] try and straighten it out off the tee a bit and with the long clubs. The next couple of days, who knows what we are going to get - we got a little bit of everything today.
"But it's fun, it's an Open, it's what it's supposed to be. It's a level playing field now, everybody has got the same conditions and we go out and try and play our best golf."
Spieth has now led a major four times after 36 holes and is hoping to add The Open title to his victories in the 2015 Masters and US Open.
He added: "Fortunately we have been here before, and fortunately we are not going for the first major. But it is for the first Open, and I would be lying if I didn't say I'm going to feel plenty of nerves as we start this weekend and throughout the weekend.
"But we'll just stick to the gameplan, believe in the form that we have been in and kind of the crescendo it took from a couple of missed cuts at The Players and then Dallas.
"Since then I've really played some good golf, pending a couple of bad putting rounds, so we've been moving in the right direction.
"I believe that we can do this. We go out there and set a goal given what conditions are forecast and it's no different from any other week."
Kuchar heads the chasing pack on one under and he was looking forward to watching the later starters after going out early to set the clubhouse target at four under following a one-over 71.
The 39-year-old was expecting them to encounter plenty of problems as conditions deteriorated so he may have been surprised by the quality of Spieth's round.
"There's a whole lot of trouble to be had, and trying to hit solid shots that the wind is going to affect the least is challenging," he said after completing a round that included four bogeys - two in the last three holes - and three birdies.
"What people enjoy about The Open is watching the hard wind, the rain, the guys just trying to survive out there. Today is my day. I get to kick back in the afternoon and watch the guys just try to survive [which] is pretty much all you can do.
"Conditions were really hard today. Nearly opposite wind of what we had yesterday. So the course played completely differently.
"And this wind, it felt like every hole was a crosswind hole. It felt like you had to play for so much curve on the ball. The wind was so strong. It was quite a trying, challenging day."
Koepka is one shot behind Kuchar on three under, alongside Ian Poulter, following a two-over 72 which included 16 pars and two bogeys - at the sixth and 13th - and he was content with his performance despite failing to post a birdie.
"I felt like I played pretty well," said the US Open champion. "The putter wasn't working quite as well today, but I didn't make the chances I needed to - some good ones coming in. But it's fun, two over is not the worst score and is not going to kill me.
"You have just got to stay patient. If you do get a birdie chance you feel like you have got to make it because there are not many that come, and unfortunately I didn't make any.
"I feel good. The game feels good. I'm excited about it. I feel like I am in a good place right now so I'm happy and I'm excited."
World No 1 Dustin Johnson once again failed to fire as he added a 72 to his first-round 71 to sit on three over at the halfway stage.
The American felt a bogey at the 18th, after finding one of Birkdale's 123 bunkers, summed up his difficult day.
"I guess I'm just not playing that good. I hit a pretty good drive on the last hole, I just didn't think I was going to reach that bunker," he said. "You hit it in a bunker, and you're going to have a tough time getting a par.
"I wish I could blame it on the wind. I'm just struggling a bit with the irons, not hitting the shots I wanted to. I hit a few good shots out there. But today was really tough.
"Yesterday I just didn't play very well. But today was very difficult. I felt like I drove it all right."
