Ayrshire, Scotland (My Sportsbook) - Ben Curtis, the 2003 British Open champion, posted a five-under 65 Thursday to join Tom Watson atop the leaderboard at the 138th Open Championship. Curtis has won just twice since winning the Open in 2003 and both of those titles came in 2006 on the PGA Tour. The 32-year-old Curtis has played well of late with three top-10 finishes in his last five starts. He worst finish in that span was at the U.S. Open, where he finished 57th. Curtis stumbled to a bogey on the fourth, but came right back with a birdie on No. 5 at Turnberry. At the par-five seventh, Curtis made eagle to jump to minus-two. He gave one stroke back with a bogey on the 10th. Curtis dropped in birdie efforts on 13 and 14 to move minus-three. Curtis used a late rally to join Watson in first. Curtis drained a long birdie putt on the 16th to get within one of the lead. His second to the par-five 17th finished just short of the green. Curtis, standing some 85 feet from the hole, rolled his eagle attempt to tap-in range. After kicking in that birdie for a piece of the lead, Curtis made par at the last to share the top spot with Watson. The last time Curtis held a share of the first-round lead in a major was at the 2005 PGA Championship. Curtis last held an 18-hole lead on the PGA Tour at the 2006 Booz Allen Classic, where he went on to win. |
