Acclimatising to the rigours of Scottish links golf is a challenge Jordan Spieth will keenly embrace at this week’s Open Championship.
Spieth has returned to St Andrews for the historic 150th staging of the tournament, and has been drawn with Jon Rahm and Harold Varner III in Thursday’s opening round.
Although he won the Open at Royal Birkdale in 2017, Spieth was close to doing so two years previously when it was last held at the Old Course.
Fresh from winning the Masters and US Open earlier in 2015, he finished just one shot adrift of a three-way play-off, which was eventually won by Zach Johnson.
American Spieth, who finished tied 10th at the Genesis Scottish Open at Renaissance last weekend, is already relishing another links test.
He said: “I would say it’s a very nice break from the 115-degree heat index that Dallas has had for 30-something days straight. I actually enjoy coming over here for the weather.
“It’s a nice break from summertime and you get these conditions.
“I love links golf. We don’t get true links in the States, regardless of where you are.
“You get true links over here, and I really enjoy playing that way.
“I think physically I feel more freed up. I feel they kind of go hand in hand as far as picking out the shot, and enjoying the creativity of the shot or putt.
“Then physically, sometimes it’s a little more freeing where you just don’t have to line it up dead straight and be perfect. Instead when you have the wind here, the hill here, it kind of frees you up to be a little more feel oriented, and I really enjoy that aspect of it.”
Spieth relishing engagement with Scottish crowd
A record-breaking 290,000 spectators will attend the Open Championship throughout the course of this week.
Spieth is eagerly anticipating the engagement with the supporters on Scotland’s east coast, adding: “I really enjoy the crowds over here. They’re the most educated fans in all of golf. They understand when sometimes you have a pitching wedge in your hand and getting to 30 feet is a really good shot.
“They also understand when you’re trying to get something closer when it wasn’t so difficult. They just seem to be very educated, and it’s always fantastic.
“This is a harder venue for fans because for the most part, they’re pushed on the outsides of the holes and even out of bounds for a lot of the back nine.
“Still with these grandstands, you still get the roars.”
Principles will remain the same for Spieth at Old Course
A number of players have remarked upon the speed of the Old Course fairways during their practice rounds, ahead of the start of the tournament on Thursday.
Spieth, whose last tournament victory came at the RBC Heritage in South Carolina in April, will not treat this week’s event any differently to normal
The 28-year-old added: “I don’t think there’s anything different here versus other venues I’ve played. I think there’s a big premium on putting the ball in the fairway and keeping it out of bunkers.
“That’s really the number one key. If I can put the ball in the fairway, keep it out of fairway bunkers off the tee, then I believe that I’ll have a good chance.
“I think that’s most important here. You get enough short clubs in your hands, and I feel that’s a nice advantage to me. I feel confident in my ability to get it in quickly when I’m playing from the fairway with short irons.”
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