No shortage of possible subplots

Forget about Tiger versus Phil or Rory versus Ricky. With respect to Messrs Woods, Mickelson, McIlroy and Fowler, the 144th British Open at St. Andrews in Scotland comes down to Jordan versus History.

Jordan as in Spieth. If the 21-year-old Texan lifts the trophy, he will become the first winner of golf's first three major tournaments of the year - the Masters, US Open and British Open - since Ben Hogan in 1953.

If he also wins the PGA tournament next month in Wisconsin, Spieth will stand alone as the only man to win all four professional majors in one year, golf's fabled calendar grand slam.