Jordan Spieth got a little dose of Scottish weather Wednesday as he wrapped up his preparation to try and do the improbable.
Spieth got in an 18-hole practice round with four others on the eve of the Open Championship at venerable St. Andrews. The Old Course, perhaps, gave him a preview of what might come over the next two days.
Rains gave the field a dose of reality. As the old Scottish saying goes: If it’s nay wind and nay rain, it’s nay golf.
Spieth will try and join the immortal Ben Hogan as the only player to win the first three majors in a single season. He will try and match the feat of Tony Lema (’64) and John Daly (’95) as the only players to win the Open Championship at St. Andrews with their first time out on the Old Course.
“In my views, I’ve seen a tendency for us to sometimes over-analyze and so we’re trying to dissect it on our own with Cameron (McCormick) and me and Michael (Greller, his caddie). We’ve kind of plotted our way around and (Wednesday’s final prep) will be a good test on really just executing on the lines that we’ve gotten over the past couple of days. I think we could over-analyze this course and I don’t think we are doing so. I think simple is better — just go off the same feels we’ve had and just try and execute, fairway, greens and get into a rhythm. We’ve been working on controlling trajectories and having tight starting lines. That is the key to playing this golf course.”
Spieth went on to say that he has embraced McCormick’s philosophy of “aim small, miss small.” It’s the type of precision that won him the Masters then the U.S. Open last month at Chambers Bay.
Speith sat in front of the European press and didn’t flinch. He was cool and calm.
His potential march to history begins within hours.
