The Open: Henrik Stenson makes steady start to title defence
Last Updated: 20/07/17 9:08pm
Henrik Stenson was content with a one-under-par 69 as he opened his defence of The Open title at Royal Birkdale.
The Swede carded three birdies and two bogeys to trail early pace-setters Jordan Spieth - his playing partner - Matt Kuchar and Brooks Koepka by four shots.
Stenson picked up his first birdie at the par-four fifth but immediately gave back that gain after a wayward second shot at the par-four sixth.
A fine tee shot to the par-three seventh put him back in red figures where he stayed for the remainder of his round apart from a brief slip at the par-three 14th, which he again rectified straight away by birdieing the par-five 15th.
"I was pretty happy with the day's work," Stenson told Sky Sports. "It's' not super-easy out there, that's for sure.
"I feel like I could have made one or two more putts and I hit a couple of errant shots on six and 14 and paid the price with the two bogeys there.
"[It was] fairly solid overall. I hit a lot of good iron shots and kept it in play most of the day."
Stenson has admitted his long game has not been at its best this season, but he was happy with the way he played in breezy conditions as he looks to retain the Claret Jug which he won at Troon last year.
"I managed to keep it simple," he added. "The kind of overall feeling was a bit simpler and it felt like I was swinging it fairly nicely and I hit a couple of really nice iron shots.
"I could have made one or two putts more, which just stayed in the jaws. Links greens are never that quick and sometimes it's just hard to hit them hard enough."
Padraig Harrington is seeking back-to-back Open victories at Royal Birkdale after winning the tournament the last time it was played at the Southport venue in 2008.
However, the Irishman made a stuttering start as he failed to register a birdie in his three-over 73 which included a bogey at the seventh and a double-bogey six at the 11th.
"Conditions were tough but they'd set the pins appropriately - it just wasn't a good scoring day for me," said Harrington.
"I was disappointed early in the round not to make more of it. I'll be trying my hardest [on Friday] regardless. The key is hopefully I get a bit of momentum in the round but it's not like you can go out and force it."
On the applause he received throughout his opening round, the 45-year-old added: "I seemed to get a lot of that today.
"I enjoyed walking down 17 and 18 so there was a little bit of sentiment in it. They can't take it away from me.
"I hit four-wood off the 17th tee, hit the left rough, a great lob wedge out of it and a beautiful pitching wedge straight down the pin which I thought was stone dead. It came up 15 feet short and I left the putt short.
"I'm glad I played it the way I did in 2008."
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