View From The Fairway - Jordan Spieth's Resurgence is Inspiring

Golfshake's Derek Clements takes aim at the latest headlines in golf through his View From The Fairway!

AT THE conclusion of The Open Championship, Rory McIlroy would have needed none of his team to point out that on Monday morning when the new world golf rankings were released he had fallen to number 15 - his lowest position since 2009. It is a measure of the consistency he has demonstrated during that time but also a stark reminder of just how far he has fallen in the past 18 months. He would do well to take some consolation from the rise and rise of Jordan Spieth. At the start of the year, the American could barely hit a barn door and had lost his magical putting touch. But he has worked his socks off and is now up to 14th in the rankings. He came within a whisker of winning at Royal St George’s and it is surely now only a matter of time before he wins another major. 

SPARE a thought this week for the likes of Tommy Fleetwood and Paul Casey. After playing in front of daily crowds of 32,000 at The Open Championship, the two men who will represent Great Britain at the Olympic golf tournament, will find themselves performing in front of one man and a dog again as the pandemic means there will be no fans in attendance. It is a stark reminder of just how far the world still has to go before we can truly believe that we have beaten Covid-19.

AND speaking of the pandemic, world number one Jon Rahm must be feeling that he is cursed. After having to withdraw from The Memorial Tournament after 54 holes while holding a six-shot lead after testing positive for Covid-19, the US Open champion has now tested positive for the virus again. It meant he cannot now compete in the Olympic Games golf tournament. He is in good company - Bryson DeChambeau also failed a test and is unable to play in Tokyo.  

IT WAS also heartwarming to watch Shane Lowry put up such a stout defence of the Claret Jug. Make no mistake, after being Open champion for two years, Lowry was under a huge amount of pressure and he performed admirably. He is now back into the automatic positions in the European Ryder Cup table and will be a huge asset to Padraig Harrington’s team.

I DON’T know about you, but I cannot wait for the 150th Open Championship at St Andrews. It is certain to be a pretty special occasion. However, if you want to attend the tournament you had better pull your finger out and register for the ticket ballot on The Open website. The demand for tickets is bound to be unprecedented. I already have my name down, and my fingers firmly crossed that I will be lucky enough to be at St Andrews. I learnt to play golf not far from the Home of Golf, at Lundin Links, and I simply cannot wait to go back there.

AM I the only one who found myself screaming in frustration at the funereal pace of play at the Evian Championship? The time that some golfers take to play their shots really does go beyond the pale. We are told that the powers-that-be are monitoring the speed of players on all major tours. We know that they can impose penalties so the question remains: why are they not doing so?