“I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t think I could win”. “I can’t. I can tell you that I’m not specifically pinpointing any one thing in my health concerns either”. Monty is the romantic story.
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He was ready to move on from Olympics to a claret jug. Just as it is at any of the these fantastic old timeless clubhouses over here.
But Monty knows Troon is a big-hitters course. Only four of the world’s top 10 golfers are planning on playing in Rio next month.
McIlroy bristled when this was put to him. “I had just come off a win at the John Deere Classic and was striking the ball great”, said Spieth.
The men’s golf competition will be held the second week of the games.
“I do sympathise with the guys who are at that phase of their lives where either their wives are pregnant or having children in the future”.
Just in case there was any doubt about who is the band leader of golf’s Beatles, McIlroy reminded his detractors of who has been writing the Major tunes. Ouch, take that, Jordan, Jason and Dustin.
With the benefit of hindsight, Spieth clearly would have made his announcement before Monday’s Games deadline.
American Johnson, the British Open champion who will not be playing in Rio, asked on Monday whether the sport really belonged on the Olympic programme. “The stuff that matters”.
Justin Rose will be “fighting fit again and raring to go” when the 145th Open Championship begins at Royal Troon on Thursday.
Spieth yearns to win the most prestigious title in golf and has spent time looking around the clubhouse at all the pictures of past champions. “I’m happy where my game is, I can’t worry about other guys”.
McIlroy wasn’t finished. Next on his agenda was drugs testing.
Four-time major victor Rory McIlroy shot from the hip when he said, among other things, all he was interested in was winning and it was not his responsibility to “grow the game” on the wider world stage.
With some stereotypical sadistic Scottish weather conditions expected at Royal Troon, Johnson and Day are each listed at +800 odds to win the tournament.
The par-three hole is only 123 yards off the tee, but its diminutive green is surrounded by five bunkers, and the one on the right can be fearsome, Stenson said.
The latter was involved in a three-way play-off in St Andrews previous year that was won by the American Zach Johnson.
“He has a lot of spotlight on him this week because he has won the last two events he’s played and they’ve been pretty big events”, No. 1 Day said on the windswept Ayrshire coastline.
Sweden’s Henrik Stenson sees little significance in precedent or nationality when seeking a potential victor, though he does make the point that he plays a lot of his golf in the United States, so maybe the portents for him could be taken as good. “When I was growing up there were two Major championships we looked at: the Masters at Augusta National, and the Open Championship”.
Shane Lowry is convinced he can challenge for the Open title after overcoming his US Open heartache.
“I will continue to carry it with me through these Games and for a while It will loom over me throughout the Olympic games, for sure”. “That’s the way I’d like to frame it this particular time around”. “So it’s no surprise”.
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Spieth’s stock has risen sharply in the past year after he won the Masters and U.S. Open and made a spirited run at the Grand Slam.
