News

Jordan Spieth and Rickie Fowler both win heading into St. Andrews and it's more than golf fans can handle

July 12, 2015

If you were a marketing executive at ESPN looking to drum up ratings for the network's coverage of the Open Championship next week, you would ask for one or more of the following:

-- Have the Open staged at the most celebrated venue in golf.

-- Have two of the biggest young stars in golf win on the same day.

-- ~~Have the defending Open champion and world No. 1 tear ligaments in his ankle playing soccer and pull out of the tournament. ~~

OK, so two out of three ain't bad.

In any event, wins by Rickie Fowler in the Scottish Open and Jordan Spieth at the John Deere Classic have set the stage for an electric week at the Home of Golf. Throw in Tiger Woods showing some semblance of form in his last start, and it's almost enough to forgive Rory McIlroy for injuring himself at the worst possible time.

Judging by some of the social media buzz, it appears golf fans have moved on, particularly when considering that at this time next week, Spieth could be 75 percent of the way to the Grand Slam.