It is a massive challenge and it is one that Spieth underlined on Sunday, his third round of 66 in the British Open leaving him just one shot behind the leading trio at St Andrews.
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Although winds had died down to a more manageable 25mph from the 45mph gusts which had moved balls on the greens in the morning causing the suspension conditions were still hard.
“The wind affected every aspect of the game”, said Johnson, who posted the 69 to back up his opening 65. A further shot back in third place is Paul Lawrie, the Scot who won the Open at Carnoustie in 1999.
Spieth, who won the Masters and U.S. Open, is in the best position since Jack Nicklaus in 1972 to win the third leg of the Grand Slam. He was five behind.
The 21-year-old Texan, attempting to become the first player since Ben Hogan in 1953 to win the year’s first three majors, is five shots behind compatriot Dustin Johnson on five-under after a level-par 72 second round that took more than 24 hours to complete.
Woods looked exhausted walking up the 18th hole at St. Andrews, where he has twice claimed the claret jug. United States’ Tiger Woods reacts as he putts to the 18th green during the second round of the British Open Golf Championship at the Old Course, St. Andrews, Scotland, Saturday, July 18, 2015. Needing mostly birdies, he resumed his round with three straight bogeys and shot 75 to finish his two rounds at 7-over 151. The 28-year-old Bengaluru-based golfer got birdies on the par-four first and par-five 14th holes to get a 70 in the second round of the oldest Major. I mean, it’s not my strongest major, and I’ve always said at the start of this week, I said, I’m looking forward to changing that this week.
Leishman is only three back, so a small bet on him would be a value play to see if he can catch lightning in a bottle again after a 64 on Sunday.
“I played with him on Tuesday in a practice round, and he hit the ball very well”.
“And with that attitude, it actually frees me up a little bit to say I can take these extra chances”.
There will be more golf on Saturday.
With players on some greens unable to get their balls to sit still, there were a number of groups in a holding pattern while others were forced to play.
“I always wanted to shoot 65 on Sunday at an Open”.
A year ago, only four amateurs qualified for the British Open and none made the cut.
Day and Oosthuizen are tied at the top at 12 under, while Spieth is just one back at 11 under.
Jordan Spieth punched his golf bag in frustration after a careless bogey, perhaps sensing the British Open was slipping away. Past year it was because he missed the cut. “I wasn’t laughing at myself”.
The 2014 runner-up steadily accumulated birdies to sign for a 66 and move to within three shots of Johnson on a congested leaderboard in which 25 players were within three of the lead midway through a the afternoon.
“This morning when we started it was nearly impossible, but I managed to hang in there and then when we just went out and restarted it was very tough, but managed to make some good pars and then birdie the last hole”, said Johnson.
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“I believe I’m still in contention”.
