Hindsight alert

I don't know if Jordan Spieth will win the British Open. Like the Blob's ever been down with the crystal ball thing?

What I do know is he's 21 years old and he's won almost everything else this year, a pretty significant slaughter of expectations. There's no way he should be doing all this at his age, and everyone knows it. But because he is, if he winds up putting the Old Course between two slices of bread and having it for lunch this weekend, I won't be shocked. He's pretty much worn out our capacity for that.

And if he doesn't?

Well, here's something else I know: I won't be starting any sentences with "If only he'd ..."

The best part of 24/7 media here in science-fictiony 2015 is the flow of information is more untapped than it's ever been. And the worst part about 24/7 media in 2015 is the flow of pure unadulterated crap is just as freely untapped.

It's a veritable open field for second-guessers, and even preemptive second-guessers. That's what's going on right now around Spieth, who chose to honor a commitment to the John Deere Classic last weekend rather than spend two weeks at St. Andrews unlocking the mysteries of the Valley of Sin. That he won the John Deere has not stopped anyone from deciding it was a tactical mistake, and, if he winds up not winning this weekend, that will be the reason why.

In a word, balderdash. (A pretty good word if you get to pick one). If Spieth winds up not winning, it won't be because he overstayed in America or hasn't played sufficiently on links courses, having just won the U.S. Open on a links course.

It will be because Adam Scott remembers that he's the best links golfer in the world. Or because Rickie Fowler, who won the Scottish Open, decides he kind of likes the way courses play in Scotland. Or because some as-yet-faceless Euro who's played St. Andrews a million times lapses into an Open coma, forgetting this weekend is something other than just four more rounds at the Old Course.

And if Spieth does win?

I fully expect someone out there to say he would have won by MORE, won more easily, if he'd skipped the John Deere.

Sigh.