With Rory McIlroy Injured, St. Andrews Braced for Jordan v History

Young American Jordan Spieth will be looking to make it three Majors in a row as he tees off at The Open on Thursday.

Forget about Tiger v Phil or Rory v Ricky.

With respect to Messrs Woods, Mickelson, McIlroy and Fowler, the 144th British Open that begins Thursday at St Andrews in Scotland is about Jordan v History.

Jordan as in Spieth. If the 21-year-old American phenomenon lifts the trophy, he will become the first winner of golf’s first three major tournaments of the year -- the Masters, the U.S. Open and the British Open -- since Ben Hogan in 1953.

If he also wins the PGA tournament next month in Wisconsin, Spieth will stand alone as the only man to win all four professional majors in one year, golf’s fabled grand slam.

No Rory vs Spieth

Until two weeks ago the Open, as it is referred to in Britain, promised the added allure of a Rory McIlroy-Spieth showdown.

McIlroy, 26, won the last two majors of 2014 before Spieth took the first two of 2015. But McIlroy injured his ankle playing soccer with friends and withdrew from the British Open. (Here’s guessing he takes a break from soccer for, say, 25 years.) But Jordan v History is good enough, because Britain’s Open has dashed grand slam hopes before. In 1972 Jack Nicklaus won the Masters and U.S. Open, only to succumb in the BritishOpen to Lee Trevino’s miracle chip-in on the penultimate hole.

Spieth Odds-on Favourite

British bookies put the betting odds on Spieth at five-or-six to one.

An improbable subplot would be a Battle of Generations between Spieth and one of golf’s “old guns”. Maybe Mickelson, 45, winner of the 2013 Open. Or even the 39-year-old Woods, who won the Open at St Andrews in 2000 and 2005 but now is struggling like a weekend duffer. Far-fetched? Absolutely.

But American Tom Watson, a five-times Open winner who was long past his prime, was one shot away from winning the title before losing in a playoff in 2009, at age 59. Watson will play the Open for the last time this year -- 40 years after winning on his debut at Carnoustie -- doubtless to cheers of nostalgia.

Fowler For The Win?

Last week Fowler did the logical thing to prepare for the Open. He flew to Scotland, giving himself time to adjust to the time difference. He played in the Scottish Open on a links course in Gullane, nearly two hours from St Andrews, and he won the tournament.

Spieth also won last week, but in the John Deere Classic in northwest Illinois, near the Mississippi River, on a wooded parkland course, a world away and six time zones behind St Andrews. Spieth did not arrive in Scotland until Monday.

Given the vagaries of golf and the Scottish weather, anything can happen at the Open. But if Fowler does win, Spieth’s loyalty to the Deere will be second-guessed until next year’s Open. And well beyond.