Lazarus praises Spieth

JORDAN Spieth displayed the same mental toughness as Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus in winning the 146th Open, according to sports performance coach Jeremy Lazarus.

Spieth recovered from losing a three-shot lead inside f our holes and being one behind with five to play to beat Matt Kuchar by three shots at Royal Birkdale.

The American admitted an incident at the 13th, where he had to take an unplayable lie and eventually ended up playing his third from the practice ground, brought back bad memories of squandering a five-shot lead with nine holes remaining in last year’s Masters.

However, he somehow regained his composure to play the next four holes in five under par to claim his third Major title and set up a chance to become the youngest winner of a career grand slam in next month’s US PGA.

“It’s hugely impressive,” said sports performance coach Jeremy Lazarus, an expert in neuro-linguistic programming.

“He has the ability and that’s a key thing. However, everyone at that level has a similar level of ability. The difference is going to be the few inches between your ears.

“People say it’s not what happens to you, it’s how you deal with it t hat counts.

“He had a few bad holes but was able to put that to one side and was able to move forward. That is one of the key things in any sport, to be able to deal with mistakes or setbacks.

“Tiger did a lot of work on his mind. Being able to train your mind is what it’s about.”

Jordan Spieth