ST. ANDREWS, Scotland — For those who haven’t shaken the shock of the 72nd hole of Chambers Bay and have been playing the “what might have been game” ever since, Thursday at the Old Course was for you.
OK, so the stages aren’t at all alike. It’s pure links (Old Course) vs. contrived links (Chambers Bay); putting on greens (OC) vs. putting on broccoli (CB); play it on the ground (OC) vs. play it through the air (CB). But the point is, what we had in Thursday's first round of the 144th British Open is what we thought we were going to get on Monday, June 22, the day that Dustin Johnson and Jordan Spieth were going to go head-to-head for 18 holes in a U.