Kevin Kisner leads The Open with Rory McIlroy three off the pace
ByReuters
Updated 19/07/2018 at 21:55 GMT
Kevin Kisner put a mediocre links record aside and surged to the first-round lead with a five-under-par 66 at The Open at a fiery fast and baked-out Carnoustie on Thursday.
Kevin Kisner au British Open 2018 à Carnoustie
Image credit: Getty Images
On a day when some of the game's less famous outscored the big names, Kisner earned a one-stroke lead over long-hitting fellow American Tony Finau and South Africans Erik van Rooyen and Zander Lombard.
Players were greeted by the most parched fairways in recent times, a straw-coloured hue perhaps even drier than at the 2006 Open at Royal Liverpool.
Drives of some 400 yards were commonplace and with only wispy rough and little wind, low scores were plentiful in the benign conditions.
Late starter Tiger Woods, who shot even-par 71, was among those who had to deal with a breeze that finally freshened long after most players were safely tucking into their evening fish and chips.
Spectators feared disappointment when Woods turned up wearing a therapeutic tape on an apparently stiff neck, but he later downplayed the significance of it.
"Everyone acts like this is the first time I've been bandaged up. I've been doing this for years, braces and bandages, just that this time it's actually visible," he said.
It was a mixed day for the box office attractions.
Defending champion Jordan Spieth was not a model of accuracy, and it finally caught up with the Texan as he dropped four shots in the final four holes for a 72.
World number one Dustin Johnson ran up a 76 that included a triple-bogey at the last, but Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy fared better with a 69.
World number 33 Kisner has not finished better than equal 54th in three appearances at the Open, but is coming to terms with a type of game rarely played on the soft and lush courses of the U.S. PGA Tour.
"Getting accustomed to links golf is something you have to do where we come from," said the 34-year-old from Aiken, South Carolina, just across the border from Augusta, Georgia.
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