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Kisner leads British Open as Spieth starts title defence with a splutter

Carnoustie - Trailing the American by one shot in the clubhouse were his compatriots Finau and South African duo Lombard and Van Rooyen

Kevin Kisner of the United States surged to the top of the early British Open leaderboard on Thursday as Jordan Spieth's defence of the Claret Jug got off to an inauspicious start at Carnoustie.

Kisner went out in one of the first groups just before 8am (0700 GMT, 11am UAE) and had an eagle and four birdies in his five-under-par round of 66 on a perfect summer's morning on Scotland's east coast.

"The golf course is great for me. The conditions have been fine," said the 34-year-old, who led going into the final round of last year's US PGA Championship before dropping away to finish tied for seventh.

"Going forward, you never know what you're going to have in Scotland. I know the rain is coming in tomorrow (Friday). I don't think the rain is going to affect how the golf course is playing in one day, but I have to just keep doing what I'm doing."

Americans have won the last five majors and will take some beating this week, with Spieth, world number one Dustin Johnson and Tiger Woods all hoping to be in contention.

However, a poor end to his first round saw Spieth finish the day one over par after a 72.

He went to the 15th tee three-under, only to drop three shots on the next two holes. He then drove into the Barry Burn on the 18th, and ended with another bogey.

"It felt like a missed opportunity. I felt like I was really going well," said the Texan, who hopes that a turn for the worse in the weather forecast for Friday will spark an upturn in his fortunes.

"I think I'm certainly in a recoverable situation. I mean, I imagine this is as easy as the course could play. So I don't see the winning score being any better than it was in 2007 with tomorrow's forecasted tough conditions and Sunday's forecasted heavy winds."

Trailing Kisner by one shot in the clubhouse were his compatriot Tony Finau and South African duo Zander Lombard and Erik van Rooyen, with the latter taking advantage of the ideal summer weather on his Open debut.

Van Rooyen went out in the second group of the day and shot 67, the only flaw on his scorecard coming with a bogey at the last, the hole that was the scene of Frenchman Jean Van de Velde's infamous final-day meltdown in 1999.

However, it was still a fine start for the 28-year-old, who qualified for his first British Open by coming second at the Joburg Open.

"It was playing as easy as it was going to play this whole week this morning, no wind at all. I think it's going to pick up from now onwards. So you had to go out and take advantage of it," said Van Rooyen, whose compatriot Brandon Stone shot a three-under 68.

Stone has come to Carnoustie fresh from a spectacular final round of 60 to win the Scottish Open at Gullane last weekend, and South Africans have previous at winning the Claret Jug in these parts.

The legendary Gary Player won at Carnoustie back in 1968, while Ernie Els won at Muirfield in 2012 and Louis Oosthuizen triumphed at St Andrews in 2010, two other venues on Scotland's North Sea coast.

Johnson and Rory McIlroy were among the afternoon starters, with the latter looking to end a four-year major drought at the venue where he was the leading amateur as a teenager back in 2007.

Arguably the biggest draw, however, is Woods, who teed off at 3:21pm alongside Japan's Hideki Matsuyama and Scotland's top-ranked golfer, Russell Knox.

Now 42, Woods is finally looking like a genuine contender again, a decade after he won his 14th major at the US Open.