Rohit left out of the squad for three Tests against England
Carnoustie (United Kingdom), July 18: Jordan Spieth feels he is back in the groove and capable of becoming the first player since Irishman Padraig Harrington in 2007/08 to win back to back Opens.
The 24-year-old and a swathe of his fellow young Americans threatening to dominate the future of the sport will also have a returning Tiger Woods.
The man who dominated the past until personal and physical problems intervened to bring that to a juddering halt is back at the Open for the first time since he missed the
cut in 2015. Spieth has not won since his Open success last July but he believes his game is back in place for the rigours of Carnoustie when battle commences on Thursday, having taken some time out to relax.
“I had the itch to get back to it after a couple of weeks of not really working and it was nice to kind of start from scratch,” Spieth said at a press conference on Monday.
Fellow young Turks such as PGA champion Justin Thomas, Masters champion Patrick Reed and Brooks Koepka, who defended his US Open title last month, will be fancying their chances.
The return of Woods, who inspired many of the 20-something Americans to take up the sport, will be intriguing to see if the sea air awakens the genius in him.
He says he has a special affinity with the challenge of playing links golf and believes if he is to add to his 14 majors it is probably going to be The Open as it suits ageing players — Tom Watson and Greg Norman both came close when in their 50’s.
“As far as long-term certainly I would say ‘Yes’ because of the fact you don’t have to be long to play on a links-style golf course,” said Woods, whose last of three Open titles came in 2006.
In a Ryder Cup year the European challenge looks weak by comparison in the only major played outside the United States.
The likes of Northern Irish star Rory McIlroy and Justin Rose, the in form Italian Francesco Molinari and perhaps a dark horse in Sweden’s Alex Noren, who won the French Open on the course where this year’s Ryder Cup will be contested, look the likeliest to be contenders.
LAHIRI IS HUNGRY FOR MAJORS
If there is a hunger for Majors in Anirban Lahiri, there are stars in Shubhankar Sharma’s eyes about his maiden Open. The duo very close to each other despite almost a decade separating them, will tee off on Thursday. It marks the sixth Open appearance for Lahiri, who has played five Opens in last six years, while Sharma is playing his third successive Major.
— Agencies