SPIETH’S BIG FEARS FOR ST ANDREWS IF THE WIND DOESN’T BLOW

JORDAN SPIETH was helping himself to five successive birdies in the flat early calm at the Genesis Scottish Open yesterday when it occurred to him: what if it is like this at St Andrews for the 150th Open next week? The long-term forecast is for similarly clement conditions, leading Spieth to join those who fear the Old Course will look outdated in the face of the modern bombers, with six of the par fours patently driveable for most of the 156-man field. ‘The course was not necessarily built for today’s technology,’ said the 28-year-old Texan. ‘Let’s hope for a bit of wind and the fact it will be firm will help. But I believe that courses are designed to play from certain places on each hole and it’s nice when that is how you play them. ‘Now we are hitting shots that you couldn’t have dreamed of when designing courses 30 years ago, let alone 130 years ago.’ Spieth was in contention for a third major success in a row at the age of just 21 when he played St Andrews for the first time in the 2015 Open but missed the play-off by one stroke. He may have some worries about how the course will cope but it has not lessened his excitement. ‘An Open at St Andrews might be arguably the best golf tournament we play,’ he said. ‘There’s the history of it, and then the fact it could be the easiest or hardest venue, depending on the day.’ At the Renaissance Club yesterday the wind increased appreciably and Spieth dropped a couple of shots on his back nine for a two-under-par 68. In the lead by a distance is American Cameron Tringale, who shot a marvellous 61. After all the talk about the lavish riches players can earn by joining LIV, the 34-year-old from California has demonstrated that life is still pretty good on the PGA Tour. He has made more than £12.5million during his 332 events — and has still to win a tournament.

Ian Poulter’s struggles since he joined LIV continued with a 78 while Matt Fitzpatrick shot 71 in the breezy afternoon conditions in his first round since winning the US Open.