British Open: Full Spieth ahead for latest Major challenge

The short journey from the 18th tee to the home fairway requires a walk over Swilcan Bridge, an arched stone bridge that dates back over 700 years and was originally built to allow shepherds cross the burn. It’s iconic, a part of history. And as the 144th Open gets under way on the Old Course, without its defending champion, this latest enactment of golf’s oldest Major presents the opportunity for Jordan Spieth to take further steps into the golfing annals.

Come Sunday, will that walk take him to a place in history? Or towards the exit gates up by the R&A clubhouse?

“It’s one of the few courses in the world where you feel you’re walking in the footsteps of history and tradition of the game,” said Graeme McDowell, as aware as anyone of what this Home of Golf means to all players.

Centre stage

As unfortunate as world number one Rory McIlroy’s absence is as his recuperation from an ankle injury progresses, the time has again come for 21-year-old Spieth – winner of the US Masters in April and the US Open last month – to take centre stage.

For one so young, his maturity, as much as his brilliance with club in hand, has been remarkable. He has assumed the spotlight without a flinch.

The great imponderable this week is the weather, with heavy rain and strong winds forecast. It is one of the few things, it seems, that is out of Spieth’s control these days. Which side of an early-late or late-early draw over the first two days will be most beneficial? Only time will tell if there is any favour, one way or the other.

“I understand that there’s a possibility for a lot to be dependent on the draw for the first two days, at least for a few strokes. It doesn’t mean you can’t make it up if you get the bad end of it, but it will be harder,” said Spieth.

And yet such an almost philosophical acceptance of what-will-be-will-be provides a glimpse into Spieth’s thinking.

Although he has had to engage in hurried lessons to try to decipher the nuances of the Old Course, a grind which included playing a golf simulator in recent weeks, Spieth – seeking to become the first player since Ben Hogan in 1953 to win the first three Majors of the season – has all the appearances of someone ready to take on whatever examination is placed in front of him.

Divulge any secrets

Only six players have ever managed to win the Masters and the US Open in the one year. The last one before Spieth was Tiger Woods, in 2002.

On Monday evening, having flown in from the United States where only the day before he had added the John Deere Classic to his roll of seasonal honours, Spieth went out for a practice round. Who should he bump into on the 16th green but Woods.

The two of them chatted for a good 10 minutes, but only briefly about the course. Spieth’s way is to figure things out for himself. Woods’s way is not to divulge any secrets.

The simulator was only the start of the process. “It’s not the same as being here and preparing . . . it didn’t hurt, just because it’s so realistic. You can see the start lines where you need to hit it. When I got over here, the real preparation started. I think we’ve done a lot of good work.”

He played 18 holes on Monday, a loop of 10 on Tuesday and another full round yesterday.

“I think controlling your trajectory as well as still having tight starting lines is the most important part about attacking this golf course,” said Spieth, who, since missing the cut at the Players in May, has gone 2nd-30th-3rd-1st-1st in his last five outings.

Spieth, the world number two and with the opportunity here to usurp the absent McIlroy at the top of the rankings, is the name on everyone’s lips. And rightly so. But this is far from a one-man show, far from a simple stroll to achieve his destiny, and there is a quality and depth to the field that means he will have to fend off others as well as overcoming the course if he is to become just the second player to win the first three Majors of the year.

Challenge Indeed, with no McIlroy, the upper echelons of the world rankings are dominated by Americans: Spieth, Bubba Watson, Dustin Johnson, Rickie Fowler and Jim Furyk. And then, there is the European challenge. Henrik Stenson was asked what would be key this week? “Drive it good, hit good irons and putt well,” he responded. It’s a mantra that many will seek to replicate; and, like Spieth, Fowler comes in on the back of a victory. In his case, it came on links terrain on the other side of the Forth estuary in the Scottish Open.

The Irish challenge has, of course, been reduced from six to five with McIlroy’s withdrawal. It means that Shane Lowry, 45th in the world, is the highest ranked Irish player in the field but the rest of the quintet features three Major champions in McDowell, Pádraig Harrington and Darren Clarke, along with Walker Cup prospect Paul Dunne. All know how to batten down the hatches should the weather turn nasty.

Spieth or the field? You have to take the field. But the US Open is so fresh that we’re reminded that it is best to expect the unexpected.