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SOUTHPORT, England -- This year's British Open began with an All-American flavor.
Jordan Spieth, chomping away on gum, sent one putt after another into the center of the cup and worked some bunker magic late in his round at Royal Birkdale to keep his card filled only with birdies and pars for a 5-under 65 that left him tied for the lead with Matt Kuchar and U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka.
Kuchar tied the course record with a 29 on the front nine on the way to his best score ever in a major.
Koepka, with no competition and barely any practice since capturing his first major a month ago, ran off three straight birdies and holed a tough shot from a pot bunker for eagle on the par-5 17th hole.
They had a one-shot lead over Paul Casey and Charl Schwartzel on a day that started nasty and ended with 39 players breaking par. The biggest question after a long day on the links was what was in store for today, when high wind and occasional showers were in the forecast.
"I thought today's round was extremely important, as they all are," said Spieth, a two-time major champion. "But given the forecast coming in, I thought you really needed to be in the red today. You can certainly make up ground in a round tomorrow, and we'll see it happen. But being able to kind of play with shots, or play a little more conservative because you don't try to do too much on a day like tomorrow, that's nice and very helpful."
Spieth's best shot came on the 16th hole.
After hitting into the thick rough to the right of the fairway, his shot crept into the back of a pot bunker -- on a slight slope and between two ridges from rake marks. Spieth aimed to the right of the hole to avoid going off the green on the other side and into another bunker, and it came off perfectly, about 10 feet away. He then made the par putt.
Kuchar was the only one at 65 who played in the afternoon.
"I watched some of the golf this morning on TV. It looked awfully challenging," Kuchar said. "It looked like anything under par was going to be a good score. Seemed like the later your tee time, the better draw you got."
Top-ranked Dustin Johnson, who hasn't played the weekend at a major since the British Open last year, managed only one birdie in a round of 71.
Rory McIlroy, who has missed the cut in three of his last four events, also shot 71, closing with three birdies over the last four holes.
Defending champion Henrik Stenson, who played with Spieth, had a 71 as well.
Phil Mickelson failed to make a birdie, the first time that has happened in a major in five years, and shot 73.