Spieth tries to make it 3-for-3
ST ANDREWS, S COTLAND Jordan Spieth will begin his march toward history Thursday on the Old Course in the 144th British Open alongside Hideki Matsuyama and Dustin Johnson. Spieth, who won the John Deere Classic in a playoff Sunday, will try to join Ben Hogan as the only players to win the Masters, U.S. Open and British Open in the same year. Spieth, 21, has four PGA Tour titles this year; the last player to win four times before the British Open was Tiger Woods in 2000. Woods won the Open that year.
Spieth, Johnson and Matsuyama are off at 4:33 a.m. ET. Spieth and Johnson will be reunited for the first time since the U.S. Open, where Johnson three-putted the last hole to give Spieth a onestroke victory.
Woods, who has won two of his 14 majors on the Old Course, plays with Jason Day and Louis Oosthuizen, who won the British Open here in 2010. The group is off at 4:55 a.m.
Five-time British Open winner Tom Watson, who will play competitively for the last time on the Old Course, is grouped with Brandt Snedeker and two-time Open winner Ernie Els (3:33 a.m.).
Rickie Fowler, who won the Scottish Open last weekend and The Players Championship this year, is grouped with Nick Faldo and Justin Rose (9:45 a.m.). Phil Mickelson, who won this championship in 2013, is grouped with Henrik Stenson and Matt Kuchar (9:34 a.m.).