Portugal Colonial - Spieth fears British Open at St Andrews could be 'too easy'

The American will be bidding for a second British Open title to add to the one he won at Royal Birkdale near Liverpool five years ago.

There have long been fears that a combination of modern golf club and ball technology, allied to the greater fitness of present-day players, leaves many classic links or coastal courses that stages the British Open increasingly defenceless against a barrage of low scoring unless the weather comes to their aid.

Asked if the Old Course might be "too easy", Spieth, who just missed out on a play-off at the 2015 British Open at St Andrews, northeast of Edinburgh, replied: "Yeah, I think it might be."

"It's hard for me to tell given in 2015 we had so much wind that we couldn't even play. But I think if it's like it was this morning out here, it's just a wedge contest, really.

"It was not necessarily built for today's technology but I think that even a nice 10 to 15 miles an hour wind would do something to it and the fact that it doesn't look like we are going to get any rain, so I think the defence could be how fast it plays."

The 28-year-old, a three-time major champion, added: "It could get like Muirfield was in 2013, and I think that regardless of wind conditions, that would change the golf course significantly and make it challenging to hold fairways and greens."

J.V.Jacinto--PC