Spieth fails to spark in John Deere Classic

FROM SKY SPORTS.COM
Jordan Speith had a low-key start in his bid to win his final tournament before next week’s Open as he shot an even-par 71 at the John Deere Classis in Illinois.

The 21-year-old will go for his third straight major when he tees up at St Andrews after stunning victories at the Masters and the US Open earlier this year.
At a venue where he won his first US PGA title two years ago as a teenager, he appeared to have the perfect platform to build on ahead of his trip to Scotland.

Yet he finished the opening day eight shots behind the leaders and is in danger of missing the cut after a frustrating round which included three bogeys and a string of missed birdie opportunities.
Speith will take heart to an extent from the fact he was six behind after 18 holes before he went on to beat Zach Johnson and David Hearn in a play-off in 2013.
But he is clearly some way from peaking ahead of a tournament when he will be seen by many as the favourite after reigning champion Rory McIlroy’s withdrawal because of an ankle injury.
American pair Justin Thomas and Nicholas Thompson shot eight-under 63s to take a share of the lead.
They sit one stroke ahead of two other players from the USA, Charles Howell III and Luke Guthrie, with five more players on six under including three-time event winner Steve Stricker.
Defending champion Brian Harman, who beat Johnson to the title by a stroke 12 months ago, hit a 67 and is tied for 21st.
FIRST ROUND SCORES
par 71

T1	Nicholas Thompson	63
T1	Justin Thomas	63
T3	Luke Guthrie	64
T3	Charles Howell III	64
T5	Shawn Stefani	65
T5	Steve Alker	65
T5	Robert Garrigus	65
T5	Daniel Summerhays	65
T5	Steve Stricker	65
T10	Brian Stuard	66
T10	Scott Pinckney	66
T10	Carl Pettersson	66
T10	Zach Johnson	66
T10	Tyrone Van Aswegen	66
T10	Spencer Levin	66
T10	Robert Streb	66
T10	Michael Thompson	66
T10	Boo Weekley	66
T10	Tom Gillis	66
T10	Will Wilcox	66
T21	Kyle Stanley	67
T21	Brian Harman	67
T21	Tony Finau	67
T21	Patrick Rodgers	67
T21	Jhonattan Vegas	67
T21	Martin Flores	67
T21	Glen Day	67
T21	Steve Wheatcroft	67
T21	Lee McCoy	67
T21	Byron Smith	67
T21	Sam Saunders	67
T21	Jonas Blixt	67
T21	Alex Cejka	67
T21	Scott Piercy	67
T21	Vijay Singh	67
T21	Jim Renner	67
T37	Bryce Molder	68
T37	Tim Wilkinson	68
T37	D.A. Points	68
T37	Kevin Streelman	68
T37	Danny Lee	68
T37	Erik Compton	68
T37	Ricky Barnes	68
T37	Jason Bohn	68
T37	Gonzalo Fernandez-Casta	68
T37	Jonathan Byrd	68
T37	Scott Langley	68
T37	Carlos Sainz Jr.	68
T37	Joseph Juszczyk	68
T37	Carlos Ortiz	68
T37	Greg Chalmers	68
T37	Fabian Gomez	68
T37	Adam Hadwin	68
T37	Johnson Wagner	68
T37	Sung Joon Park	68
T37	David Hearn	68
T37	Kevin Chappell	68
T37	Chris Stroud	68
T37	Alex Prugh	68
T37	Cameron Percy	68
T61	Roberto Castro	69
T61	Ryo Ishikawa	69
T61	Seung-yul Noh	69
T61	Scott Brown	69
T61	Stewart Cink	69
T61	David Toms	69
T61	John Huh	69
T61	Michael Putnam	69
T61	Arjun Atwal	69
T61	Jeff Corr	69
T61	Mark Hubbard	69
T61	Whee Kim	69
T61	Jason Gore	69
T61	William McGirt	69
T61	Jeff Overton	69
T61	Josh Teater	69
T61	Harris English	69
T61	Derek Ernst	69
T61	Tim Clark	69
T61	Kevin Kisner	69
T61	Pat Perez	69
T61	Vaughn Taylor	69
T61	Troy Kelly	69
T61	Chez Reavie	69
T61	Aaron Baddeley	69
T61	Andrew Loupe	69
T61	Ryan Armour	69
T88	Zac Blair	70
T88	Andrew Svoboda	70
T88	Brendon de Jonge	70
T88	Ryan Moore	70
T88	Lucas Glover	70
T88	Kyle Reifers	70
T88	Roger Sloan	70
T88	Max Homa	70
T88	Jon Curran	70
T88	Blake Adams	70
T88	Jerry Kelly	70
T88	Jason Kokrak	70
T88	Tom Hoge	70
T101	Hudson Swafford	71
T101	Kevin Stadler	71
T101	Camilo Villegas	71
T101	K.J. Choi	71
T101	Retief Goosen	71
T101	Jordan Spieth	71
T101	Eric Axley	71
T101	Chad Collins	71
T101	J.J. Henry	71
T101	Derek Fathauer	71
T101	Chris Naegel	71
T101	Zack Sucher	71
T101	Billy Hurley III	71
T101	Scott Verplank	71
T101	Troy Matteson	71
T101	Ken Duke	71
T101	Troy Merritt	71
T101	Brice Garnett	71
T101	Benjamin Alvarado	71
T120	Trevor Immelman	72
T120	George McNeill	72
T120	Tim Petrovic	72
T120	Jim Herman	72
T120	Richard Sterne	72
T120	Rod Pampling	72
T120	Mark Wilson	72
T120	Chad Campbell	72
T120	Cameron Beckman	72
T120	Will MacKenzie	72
T120	Heath Slocum	72
T120	John Rollins	72
T120	Brian Campbell	72
T133	Matt Bettencourt	73
T133	Chris Smith	73
T133	Mike Weir	73
T133	Ben Curtis	73
T133	Zack Vervaecke	73
T133	Bill Lunde	73
T133	Andres Gonzales	73
T133	Ben Crane	73
T133	John Merrick	73
T133	Charlie Wi	73
T133	Jonathan Randolph	73
T144	Tim Herron	74
T144	Steven Bowditch	74
T144	Bryson DeChambeau	74
T144	Oscar Fraustro	74
T148	Bo Van Pelt	75
T148	Carson Schaake	75
T148	Nick Taylor	75
T148	Mark D. Anderson	75
T148	Zach Steffen	75
T153	Chesson Hadley	76
T153	Andrew Putnam	76
155	Todd Hamilton	77
WD	Brian Davis	WD