Spieth finally got something going on his 13th hole, sinking a 32-foot birdie putt after escaping the bunker.
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Spieth has said that he has been playing St Andrews on a simulator, and while he acknowledges this is not necessarily as testing as the real thing, McCormick added that the Texan had already begun preparation for the Open while at home in Dallas, including a lot of lag putting.
► Scottish Open: Thorbjorn Olesen returned to form with a 7-under 63 to take a one-shot lead after the first round, with Jimmy Walker leading a trio of top Americans in the chasing pack.
Gillis, 46, and winless in 171 career starts on the PGA Tour, played the back nine in 5-under 31 to draw within a shot. He did better than that.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s a course that yields a lot of birdies”. “I’m very, very much afraid of sharks”, he said.
Thomas and Thompson started their rounds on the back nine, and the ex- was four under halfway through his round.
Some even criticized Spieth for supposedly jeopardizing his Grand Slam push by playing this tournament rather than heading over to the United Kingdom early to prep for the Open Championship. A 319-yard drive and a 241-yard approach left him with a 4-foot eagle putt.
Spieth said he recently spent more than two hours battling a 12-foot, 300-pound (3.7 meter, 136 kilogram) blacktip shark while fishing in the Bahamas with friends.
Spieth meanwhile leapt to the defence of world number one Rory McIlroy after the reigning PGA Championship and British Open champion suffered an ankle injury which has forced him out of defending the Claret Jug.
Oh, one of Thomas’ best buds is someone he has competed against in junior, college and now professional golf.
Playing partner Phil Mickelson, who won the 2013 Open a mile down the road at Muirfield, was in danger of missing the halfway cut when he bogeyed the 11th and 12th, but responded in style with a hat-trick of birdies from the 14th to finish three under.
With so many young, talented players fighting to gain their foothold on tour, becoming a better player is imperative.
Lee, who last week won his maiden PGA Tour title in West Virginia, is six shots off the lead held by American Justin Thomas.
He had runs of four straight birdies twice, from holes 15 to 18 and five to eight. Cedar Rapids’ Zach Johnson shot a 68 Friday to get to 8-under 134 and a tie for 11th-place. “Everything feels solid, and I’ve just got to keep hitting fairways and giving myself chances”.
“I don’t think I’m here strictly because I’m honoring a commitment”, he said.
Johnson, three-time JDC victor and ex- Illini player Steve Stricker, and fellow ex- Illini and Quincy native Luke Guthrie were another shot back, along with Brian Stuard and Steven Alker.
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“I had two bad three-putts too, which was insane but it was a really good day”.
