Jordan makes his bid for historic treble

This was to be McIlroy’s year, but instead eyes will be on world No 2

FIRST, let’s just all be honest about this and admit we never saw it coming.

Granted, this was always meant to be a grand slam year. But it was going to be Rory McIlroy who was going to complete the career grand slam at the Masters. This was to be McIlroy’s year in which he became the answer to life after Tiger Woods. Then came Jordan Spieth. Next we looked to Phil Mickelson to complete his career grand slam at the US Open.

This was Mickelson’s US Open. He had prepared well for it. He had finished second in his national Open a record six times. Golf’s great gambler was about to get his payout. Then came Jordan Spieth. Now we head to the Home of Golf for the Open Championship on the venerable Old Course. In a grand slam year, there could be no bigger and better stage. Then came Jordan Spieth? It certainly seems that way. Spieth has proved he can win on any type of golf course. He won on the beautifully manicured fairways of Augusta National, and then he won at Chambers Bay, which depending on the side of the cut you found yourself on by Friday evening was either a challenging links-style golf course or a well-fertilised goat track.

Now we are headed into the third major of 2015 and it’s still very much a grand slam year.

But if for the first two majors the storylines belonged to somebody else going into the week, the week of the Open will be very much all about Spieth’s grand slam year.

McIlroy is out nursing the hurt of a ruptured ankle ligament sustained during a friendly game of football with his mates.

Had something like this happened at the start of the year, we would have all been throwing ourselves onto the broken shafts of our drivers in despair at what had promised to be such a big year for golf.

But now we have Spieth. So, get well soon, Rory.

This is a typical example of how McIlroy will for his entire career frustrate us with his genius one week and then his failure to launch the next.

Missing out on a golden opportunity on the Old Course will be very hard for McIlroy to bear. To defend an Open on the Old Course is a special moment, especially when you consider that this is a venue that holds great meaning for McIlroy.

It was here that his European Tour career really began. It was thanks to an invite from South African businessman Johann Rupert to play in his Alfred Dunhill Links Championship here in 2007 that McIlroy was able to really get his career off the ground.

“It was the tournament that I got my European Tour card, and it was a life-changing week for me. I was a young 18-year-old just starting out in my professional career, and I finished third that week,” McIlroy said.

“That earned me enough money to get my European Tour card for the next season.”

Among the South Africans, world No 16 Louis Oosthuizen has already won an Open on the Old Course and knows exactly how to unlock the secrets of this layout.

Branden Grace (No 31) is also a strong favourite. Before he won the 2012 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship there, he shadowed Oosthuizen around the Old Course, learning to hit shots that were uncomfortable for him.

An impressive US Open suggests Grace is ready to break through on a stage such as this. There could be a sense of destiny for the young South African in what has become a very special year in golf. A year in which the next generation is already being beaten by the next-next generation.

A year in which we’ve finally found a way to deal with life after Woods, currently ranked No 226.

Justin Rose (No 7), Dustin Johnson (No 4), Jason Day ( No 8), Rickie Fowler (No 9), a South African back in the major spotlight — all tantalising prospects as we head to the Old Course.

And then came Jordan Spieth.

It was the tournament I got my European Tour card, and it was a life-changing week for me. I was just starting out in my professional career, and I finished third