Dustin Johnson back at St. Andrews after US Open heartbreak

This year it is being hosted at the home of golf, St. Andrews, Scotland. Yet, during this Open week, the only topic of real interest to anyone remotely associated with golf is whether the precociously talented youngster can fly back to America with the Claret Jug for company.

The other fascination is whether Spieth or Rickie Fowler has chosen the smarter preparation for the Open Championship.

“But I guess you can’t win them all unless you win the first two”, admitting in a way, that it was impossible not to think of the Grand Slam. It’s his favourite course anywhere and if there is one place that can inspire him to revive his flagging fortunes – alongside Augusta National – it is St Andrews.

“I’ve got what it takes, so I’m excited to get this week started”.

Despite his absence from the upper echelons of the world rankings, Woods says the sport is in “great hands” with Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth.

After a sedate 71 in the first round, the chorus of wisdom grew louder. After the plane landed in Edinburgh late Monday morning, Spieth arrived at the Old Course early in the afternoon, then started his practice round at 4 p.m., joined only by his caddie, swing coach, and manager. Eventually, he needed a playoff to clinch the title. “I played football my whole life till college and never got injured”.

And maybe not even on Sunday, when Johnson could be one of the contenders to upend Spieth and his chase for the third leg of the Grand Slam. At 25/1 it does seem like a rather tempting bet, but rarely have men been able to crack the Major code through an entire season.

TIGER WOODS!!!! didn’t speak, didn’t joke, didn’t smile. Despite all of this, Woods is one of two players in the modern era to win two Open Championships at St. Andrews.

But he insisted he had gone his own way and and had no regrets.

If Johnson’s Chambers Bay meltdown shook his confidence in his ability to win majors, he isn’t owning up to it. Like all pro golfers, he can readily find excuses that have nothing to do with him, personally – and in this case, he has plenty of backup, including Henrik Stenson’s comment that the greens were “like putting on broccoli”.

Despite his superb form, it will take a mighty effort from the young American to master the hallowed links in Scotland. A player of that caliber would turn professional and go for the cash long before he had a chance to complete the original Grand Slam.

Six-time major victor Faldo continued: “Jordan has got this great ability – many people play practice rounds with him and the next day he’ll be talking about the golf course and they’ll have missed everything he’s talking about, all the little subtle slopes. The rough is always the same and the way he has been playing I’d be anxious about it being thick haggis or huge asparagus…”

“I really didn’t care anyway”, Spieth said.

Johnson, ranked fourth in the world, has suffered a string of major championship near-misses, starting at the 2010 US Open where he fell away after going into the final round holding a three-stroke lead. If Tiger Woods were in his prime today he would definitely still be No. 1, but he certainly would not be as dominate as he was at the time.