SOUTHPORT, England -- Jordan Spieth, 23, heads into the final round of the 146th Open holding a 3-shot lead, which is nothing new.
The Texan has sat atop the leaderboard an astonishing 14 different times after a round in his young career. If he can make it 15 on Sunday, he'll grab the third leg of the career Grand Slam.
Will anyone catch Spieth? We asked our panel of writers at Royal Birkdale to weigh in.
No chance. When he's on like this, no one can catch him. What's scary is the rest of the field knows it, too. His 2015 wasn't that long ago. When he went to a place where he got into contention, he won. By the end of the FedEx Cup playoffs, anyone going head-to-head with him learned pretty quickly that when he got the lead, he kept the lead. On On Sunday he'll be only the second player in history to have three legs of the Grand Slam before the age of 24. Jack Nicklaus was the other. -- Michael Collins
Yes. It can easily happen. All that is required is one wayward tee shot into the gorse, or an unlucky bounce into a pot bunker, and Spieth's lead is gone. Yes, he's given himself a cushion, but as we saw at the Masters last year, a 5-shot lead standing on the 10th tee was not enough. The big difference here is there are no water hazards. But those bunkers are hazard enough. -- Bob Harig
Probably not. His mojo has returned, he's hungry, he loves Royal Birkdale, and the majority of his rivals are distant. I expect charges to be made, but the pressure of maintaining them usually tells. If anyone were to cause a surprise, a hunch says Hideki Matsuyama. Or will Matt Kuchar go unnoticed in the rearview mirror? Like I said, probably not. -- Matt Cooper
Nope. This thing isn't over yet, but it's getting late early. Spieth has everything going his way: He owns a 3-stroke lead; he has experience playing as a front-runner; his closest competition will be right alongside him, with nobody else closer than a half-dozen shots away. While the field chases Spieth, he'll be chasing history as the second-youngest player to win three legs of the Grand Slam. It would be fun if someone makes a charge at him, but the reality is, this will be a coronation as he strides down the 18th hole. -- Jason Sobel
No. On form and statistical precedent, Spieth looks locked in. He has held a multiple-shot lead after 54 holes five times in the past three years in various tournaments and gone on to win every time. He has also looked cool, calm and collected throughout, deserving of his lead at all times. The most likely thing to upset him here is the weather, and even that isn't forecast to be too dramatic Sunday. -- Leo Spall
Nope. This thing is over. Done. And I don't want to hear about the 2016 Masters. Spieth was hitting it all over the map that week and scrambling to get it done. It wasn't the moment so much as it was the law of averages catching up to him. This week is different. I don't think he's hit an iron more than 5 yards off line all week. He understands history, and doesn't have another historically great player chasing him. He's getting the third leg of the career Grand Slam on Sunday. -- Kevin Van Valkenburg