The Open: James Sugrue Echoes Spieth's 'Easy' St. Andrews Comments | Balls.ie

Irish pro golfer James Sugrue is an experienced man when it comes to St. Andrews, the host course for the Open Championship this week.

He has been around it many times as an amateur playing the St. Andrews Links tournament, and knows full well the dangers of its pot bunkers and the weather.

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However, this week the wind is predicted to be down, leading some people, including Jordan Spieth, to comment that it may play particularly easy and come down to wedge and putting prowess.

James Sugrue on nature of St Andrews Course

Sugrue echoed similar thoughts to Spieth in his assessment of the Open Championship at St Andrews. Speaking to Balls ahead of tee-off at the iconic Scottish course, Sugrue said:

I know it pretty well along with other top Irish amateurs, we all would have went over there for years. It's obviously a super course. It probably wouldn't be the hardest of courses. I was just looking at the weather before I came on and I think it's supposed to be pretty good. Temperatures are up kind of low to mid twenties.

It's supposed to get windy Wednesday, but that will just give them a little taster of what it can be like, but I think from Thursday to Sunday it is supposed to be ok, but as we know it can change pretty quick. But I think if the weather's ok it should be pretty good scoring.

I think that off the tee all you have to do is keep it out of the bunkers, and I know that's easier said than done, but there isn't a whole pile of trouble.

READ HERE: Spieth, Koepka And Homa: Our Shouts For The Open

Jordan Spieth on St Andrews course

4 July 2022; Jordan Spieth of USA during day one of the JP McManus Pro-Am at Adare Manor Golf Club in Adare, Limerick. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

Spieth was questioned last week on how he predicted the Open would play, and if he is correct then it would certainly play in his favour given his wedge and putting excellence.

“Yeah, I think it might be,” Spieth said when asked if St Andrews could be too easy.

“It’s hard for me to tell given 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 10-15mph an hour would show something to it.

“It doesn’t look like we are going to get any rain, so I think the defence could be how fast it plays. 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.”

Whether the Open Championship plays easy or the wind gets up and the course bites back, with either scenario it is guaranteed to be a show stopping tournament given that it is in its 150th year, and with the presence of Tiger Woods and a host of Irish players.