Jordan Spieth at British Open 2016: Thursday Leaderboard Score, Twitter Reaction

World No. 3 Jordan Spieth endured a frustrating opening day at the 2016 British Open as he carded a level-par round of 71 at Royal Troon on Thursday.

From tee to green, the American was largely excellent, but he missed a number of makeable birdie putts, especially on the markedly easier front nine.

Spieth went out in 35 and came back in 36 to finish five shots back from Patrick Reed, the clubhouse leader when he finished his round.  

Here is the 22-year-old's scorecard from his opening 18 holes in Ayrshire, Scotland:

Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Out
Hole	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	In
Par	4	4	4	5	3	5	4	3	4	36
Score	4	4	4	4	3	4	4	3	5	35
To Par	E	E	E	-1	-1	-2	-2	-2	-1	-1
Par	4	4	4	4	3	4	5	3	4	35
Score	4	5	4	4	3	4	5	2	5	36
To Par	-1	E	E	E	E	E	E	-1	E	E

Spieth put his approach to the first stiff to about five feet and looked set to make a fast start with an opening three, but he missed the putt for birdie.

It was a similar scenario on the second as he ran his second shot to the front of the green to set up a birdie opportunity, but again his putt did not drop.

A good up-and-down on the third preceded his first birdie of the day on the par-five fourth as Spieth two-putted.

The two-time major winner squandered another birdie chance at the par-three fifth following an excellent drive and then moved to two under par on six as he again took advantage of a par five.

Per the European Tour, the front nine was playing far the easier on Thursday, and Spieth was visibly frustrated at having missed so many early opportunities:

After a routine par on seven, he missed another chance on the par-three eighth after a terrific drive into the green, his birdie putt sliding past the right edge of the hole, per the Dallas Morning News' Brad Townsend:

Spieth then dropped his first shot of the tournament on nine following a careless three-putt.

After reaching the back of the ninth green in two, he had a tricky downhill putt for birdie that ran three feet past the hole, and he conspired to miss his par putt to go out in one under par.

The Associated Press' Doug Ferguson provided a breakdown of Spieth's putting performance on the front nine, mirrored by his playing partner Justin Rose—Shane Lowry was the third in the group:

Birdie opportunities were likely to be few and far between on the tough back nine, and so it proved, with Spieth doing well to get up and down for par from the edge of the green on 10.

On the tough 11th, Spieth drove into the thick rough on the right and could only hack his second back out onto the fairway.

He was unable to get up and down for par and slipped back to level before making par on 12 and missing another birdie putt on 13—a good effort pulling up millimetres short of the hole.

Per Golfweek's David Dusek, Spieth, and others, were seemingly struggling to read the relatively slow greens at Troon:

Back-to-back pars followed before the third and final par five on the course presented the best birdie opportunity of the back nine at 16.

Again, though, for Spieth, it was a matter of a missed chance as he could only card a five, to his obvious annoyance, per Townsend:

On the par-three 17th he finally got one to drop, holing a 20-footer for birdie after planting his drive pin-high on a tricky green.

Back under par, Spieth drove way right on the final hole and could not make the green with his second shot after receiving relief from a spectator fence.

He could only manage a bogey-five and finished even par for his round which, while far from putting him out of contention with three days remaining, was somewhat unsatisfactory given the chances he missed.