British Open: Day 1 Recap

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SteemSports Presenter: Scott Frank, @scottybuckets

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SteemSports General Manager: Nolan Jacobson, @theprophet0, STEEM Witness, PeerPlays Witness & DECENT Miner (Witness)

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The Open Championship of 2017 had an action packed first day. The Tournament is taking place at the Royal Birkdale golf course. Three American players are tied for first place as they all shot a -5. Jordan Spieth was the first one to post that opening score and was followed by U.S. Open Champoin Brooks Koepka and Matt Kuchar.

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Speith got out of the gate quick with a birdie on the second tee. He had no bogeys on the front 9 as he shot a 31. The back 9 was also bogey free as he birdied 2 more holes and ended up with a 65 which is -5 under par. Although Speith only hit 36% of his fairways, he reached regulation 83% of the time. His average drive was 298 yards and he only had 29 puts. This was his 3rd career round of 65 or better in a major.

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Koepka had a much slower start than Jordan Speith. He shot par on the first 7 holes before getting a birdie on number 8. He also had no bogeys on the front 9 and ended up with a 33. The back 9 for Koepka was very different than the front. He birdied holes 11, 12, and 13 but then had is first bogey of the day on hole 16. But the crowd roared as he got an eagle on the next hole which leaves him tied for first with a 65. He hit 64% of his fairways but only reached the green in regulation half of the time. His average drive was a whopping 321 yards and he only putted 21 times!

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Our 3rd leader of the day is Matt Kuchar. He was on fire on the front 9 as he had 5 birdies and no bogeys. His 29 on the front looked incredible. His back 9 was good with all pars as he too shot a 65. Kuchar only hit 43% of his fairways but he reached the green in regulation 63% of the time. He averaged 292 yards per drive and only had to putt 25 times.

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There should be a ton of movement on Friday. There are 36 golfers with in 4 shots of the leaders. The weather also can play a huge roll on the pairings, depending on the wind and rain. The morning groups have historically gotten better weather as the wind gets going stronger and stronger as the day goes on.

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Phil Mickelson and Sergio Garcia had rough days. They both shot 3 over par and will need to bounce back on Friday. Rickie Fowler, Dustin Johnson and Rory McIlroy all are in the hunt at +1. Check back on Friday for a Round 2 Update. Tell us who are you rooting for and against? Cheers!

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