Instead of making history, Spieth trying to ignore it

Defending champion Day plays in the morning wave of the opening round with world number four Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland and Mickelson from the 10th tee at 8:30 AM ET.

An Oxford graduate in mathematics is hardly required to point out that at least two of the illustrious trio will suffer such a fate.

“On Saturday, just six days after almost winning the British Open, Mickelson was at Baltusrol getting in some early work”, Andy Vasquez of the Bergen (N.J.) Record writes. In recent decades, architects Robert Trent Jones Sr. and his son, Rees, prepared the Lower Course for major championships by lengthening and modernizing the layout.

Backspin: More than one victory was expected out of McIlroy this year. The Masters, US Open and Open Championship have all seen first-time major champions. If it is unfortunate Stenson will not have the down time he unquestionably earned, golf fans should relish the return to a stage that has produced such fireworks.

Baltusrol used to be a USGA-affiliated venue, hosting seven U.S. Opens from 1903 to 1993. “It was a 7,000-yard par 72”.

“It’s fantastic what this golf course has seen over the years”, Day said of Baltusrol, which has hosted seven U.S. Opens, four U.S. Amateurs, two U.S. Women’s Opens and Amateurs, as well as two PGA Championships. The guy can golf his ball, though, and this course should line up with him. Stenson made the cut 11 years ago, finishing in a share of 47th.

The first island green was not the 17th at TPC Sawgrass, Bill Fields writes in this story in the New York Times. When it was, it was just one of the greatest things that has happened in my career.

Sleeper: Thomas Pieters. I’m bullish on his game. The land was purchased in 1885 by newspaper publisher Louis Keller who wanted to build a golf course.

“I look back on (the victory at Baltusrol) and I look back at how little my kids were, running around the green, it’s awesome how the time has gone by”. But what casual observers and weekend hackers like me know for certain is that whatever the pros do, the general golfing public tends to go in that direction as well. He’s in the Tiger stratosphere, where every shot he hits is going to be questioned, every move he makes is going to be questioned.

In the sport of golf, nothing compares to the four majors. “I needed to get that second one and got it fairly soon, a year and a half later”. “I’m excited where my game is at and where it’s headed”.

“The hard part is making sure I have time for somebody who came along way to say hello”, Gaffney said. Mickelson could barely believe the lengths to which Stenson reached to claim the Claret Jug.

Day’s preparations for the defence of the Wanamaker Trophy didn’t go entirely as planned as he finished tied-14th behind victor Jhonattan Vegas in the Canadian Open.

He finished one stroke out of the playoff at the British Open. So I got kind of the feel of the course. “When I’m teeing it up in a major, I’m not still trying to get that first one and I know what it takes”, Johnson said.

“I should have that worked out… hopefully!” Berger withdrew from the tournament because of a shoulder injury and decided that he wasn’t healthy enough to play in The Open Championship as well.

So will members and longtime friends, which is something both competitors are looking forward to. “It’s really being able to balance and since I’ve been balancing things out, it seems like my golf game has been better, too, in the last few years”.

The excitement of the fantastic duel at Troon between Henrik Stenson and Phil Mickelson last Sunday week has heightened the appetite for more drama as a field packed with Major and Tour champions convenes at this renowned golf complex.