Open Championship chances assessed

Zach Johnson, who stands four back of Spieth, was on an adjacent hole and heard the crowd roar for Spieth’s eagle at 17, saying it sounded like those elicited by such legends as Jack Nicklaus and Woods. I feel like everything’s coming around. They have tried and failed twice before.

McIlroy’s camp did not respond to inquiries regarding his progress at the time this was published. I will certainly have enough rest, and I will be as prepared as can be, as I am for any other event, by the time I tee it up at St Andrews.

The next stop on this fantastic ride?

Poulter told Reuters: “Rory would have wanted a run at St Andrews next week, it’s a good course for him”. Only Ben Hogan (in 1953) won the first three events of the modern slam (and didn’t play the PGA).

The reigning Masters and US Open champion was criticised for staying in the U.S. to play the John Deere Classic in Illinois rather than heading to Scotland early to tune up at the Scottish Open.

Jordan Spieth has the stage to himself at St. Andrews as he hunts down the third leg of the Grand Slam and how mad is that? And he is embracing it.

Ultimately, the debate will rage on now and any time a star athlete get’s hurt off the field, but at least we know that Rory’s peers have his back. “And then maybe zero names after that”. He is the only player to win the Open on five courses – but never at St. Andrews.

McIlroy won’t be at St. Andrews to defend his title after injuring his left ankle playing soccer.

“Has he got another major in him?”, is one of the most-common debating topics in clubhouses around the world and Woods is not about to write himself off. You’re pretty sure you like it and you kind of see where it’s going, but there are plenty of twists and turns ahead that change everything you previously had thought about the story.

All the talk at the Scottish Open is about a player who isn’t even here this week. And it still is. “When I get over there (to St. Andrews), whether I play well or don’t play well has nothing to do with what I did the week before”. This is the 29th time that golf’s oldest championship is held on golf’s oldest links.

No, not the Grand Slam, although the 21-year-old comes to the Open Championship with that astonishing dream intact.

And he tied a major championship record with a 63 in the opening round of the 2010 British Open at St. Andrews, only to follow with an 80 when a big wind arrived the next day. He shot 70 and was four shot behind Kel Nagle.

Woods was at the top of his game and was in contention entering the third round at Muirfield. “Everybody does”, Spieth said Tuesday during his pre-tournament news conference at the John Deere Classic.

Now it falls to Spieth.

The conveyance of the Open championship contradicts what the U.S. Open tries to accomplish when setting up courses. “I think he can handle the pressure. I think that’s what sets Jordan apart”.

Still to be determined is how long the ankle injury keeps McIlroy out of golf. These storylines include injuries, rising stars, and many players searching for their first major victory.

To a lot of big things.

“Of course, the better you know the course, the more you can take advantage of that knowledge and knowing that little bit extra how it looks going to the pin. They’re hard to comprehend”. He had the highest 36-hole score of his career when he missed the cut at the U.S. Open. So he did with two putts over 20-feet in that remarkable concluding quintet. Phil Mickelson shares a similar philosophy, which differs from Woods, who does not play the week leading into a major. “The wait from August to April was tough”.

“For me right now it’s about having faith on control and impact”, he said. “It just rolls right into the next”.

McIlroy’s absence is a massive blow for The Open. He is not a favorite to win this tournament, but he started the week off exactly the way he wanted.