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Spieth leads all-American charge at British Open

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146th Open Championship at Royal Birkdale
THREE Americans will take a share of the lead into the second round of the 146th Open Championship.

Jordan Spieth, Matt Kuchar and US Open champion Brooks Koepka each shot five under par on Thursday to establish a one-shot lead over England’s Paul Casey and South Africa’s Charl Schwartzel.

Ian Poulter and Scottish Open winner Rafa Cabrera Bello are a shot further back after carding 67s, while world number two Hideki Matsuyama headlines a pack of 14 at two under par.

Those frontrunners will have a significant advantage with difficult conditions expected to hit Royal Birkdale on Friday.

Aaron Baddeley, Jason Day, Marc Leishman and Adam Scott all shot one under the card in a solid start for the Australian contingent at the scene of Ian Baker-Finch’s record-breaking Open win back in 1991.

Day’s up and down performance was reflective of a frustrating 2017, but he finished strong with a 10-metre birdie putt to join his fellow Aussies in the red.

“It was kind of back and forth,” said the world number six.

“It’s really hard because for the most part I hit most irons going up to 15 and then you pull driver out and it feels foreign.

“I hit three poor drives, going up 15, 16, 17. Got myself out of position on all those holes, and didn’t play well.

“Those are the holes where you can kind of get some back and unfortunately didn’t get them back.

“But I made a good putt on 18, which was a nice way to finish.”

Perhaps the standout feature of Day’s opening round was his choice of footwear.

Online bookmaker Sportsbet.com.au could not help but draw comparisons to the most famous Nike sneakers ever to grace the silver screen.

On the wagering front, the first day of British Open 2017 has resulted in some serious market shifts.

Having started the tournament at +1400 odds, Spieth has plunged into outright favouritism at +350.

Dustin Johnson and Rory McIlroy have drifted to +2200 after shooting one over, while Rickie Fowler (+2500) has moved out even further.

Scott (+2200) and Day (+2500) sit comfortably on those lines, with Leishman a little ways back at +3300.

It was not a good start for our pick, Sergio Garcia, who is three over par and now paying +7000 for the title.

2017 British Open outright betting

Live market courtesy of Sportsbet.com.au

+350 – Jordan Spieth

+750 – Brooks Koepka

+1000 – Matt Kuchar

+1200 – Paul Casey

+1600 – Hideki Matsuyama

+1800 – Charl Schwartzel, Justin Thomas

+2000 – Jon Rahm, Henrik Stenson

+2200 – Rafa Cabrera Bello, Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy, Adam Scott

+2500 – Jason Day, Rickie Fowler

+2800 – Alexander Noren, Ian Poulter

+3300 – Charley Hoffman, Marc Leishman

+4000 – Justin Rose

+5000 – Daniel Berger, Thomas Pieters

+6000 – Bubba Watson

+6600 – Branden Grace, Matthew Fitzpatrick

+7000 – Sergio Garcia

+8000 – Ernie Els, Andrew Johnston, Steve Stricker, Bernd Wiesberger

+9000 – James Hahn

+10000 – Tony Finau, Ross Fisher, Russell Henley, Kevin Na, Xander Schauffele, Andy Sullivan

(More quoted)

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