Jordan Spieth admits he is desperate to win The Open and claim the third major of his career at Royal Troon. Vans Old Skool White Sale . The world No 3 - who won the Masters and US Open in 2015 - had the opportunity to hold the famous trophy last year after American compatriot Zach Johnson won the tournament at St Andrews, with Spieth finishing in a tie for fourth.That has whetted his appetite for success ahead of The 145th Open, live on Sky Sports. Rob Lee and Paul McGinley discuss the players they expect to impress at The Open. This is a very, very special tournament; everybody knows that. Again, the Claret Jug is something Ive now held in my hands - I was with Zach the night that he won it last year, said Spieth.I crave to have that trophy in my possession at some point, and to reach a third leg of the Grand Slam this week would be a fantastic achievement and a life-long goal of mine.So [Ive been] working hard for it. Ive been here since Saturday and seen a couple different wind conditions. The course is a fantastic golf course for the Open Championship. Here are all the ways to watch The Open with Sky Sports I love coming over and playing links golf as well. I think my game in general over the course of the next 20 to 30 years out here will show that this style of golf, I think it plays to my strengths.Does that mean this week it may? I dont know. But I love this style of golf. I feel comfortable playing this style of golf, and I think that this tournament is one that we certainly put emphasis on.Obviously, its a major, and I look forward to trying to get into contention this week and dealing with the tough conditions. Spieth also faced a barrage of questions over his decision not to compete for USA at this years Olympics in Rio, with concerns over the Zika virus ensuring the top four players in world golf will not feature in Brazil.The 22-year-old described it as the toughest decision of his life but defended his right to do so.Im a huge believer in Olympic golf. Im a huge believer in playing for your country, added Spieth. Jordan Spieth speaks during a news conference ahead of the 145th Open Championship at Royal Troon I dont expect anybody to understand, but trust that I believe Im making the right decision. It was probably the hardest decision Ive ever had to make in my life. I can honestly say that.Ultimately a decision had to be made yesterday [Monday], and so I made it.International Golf Federation president Peter Dawson has described the withdrawal of top players from the Olympic tournament as an overreaction and Spieth admitted that may prove to be the case.No, I mean, it may be, Spieth said when asked if he was annoyed by Dawsons comments. It very well could be. Im just not sure. The Open on Now TV Dont miss The Open. Watch live on NOW TV for £10.99. No contract. Also See: The 145th Open LIVE! Day taking advice from Tiger McDowell hopes to make amends Golf on Sky Vans Old Skool Black Sale .What they got was a bevy of players chipping in to pick up the slack.Josh Smith scored 18 points and James Harden added 17 as the Rockets used a balanced scoring effort to outlast the Mavericks for a 99-94 victory. Vans Old Skool White . Joining him in this years class were Switzerlands Patrick Huerlimann and Norways Eigil Ramsfjell. The announcement was made at the world mens curling championship at Capital Indoor Stadium in China.The Montreal Canadiens received a spectacular goaltender effort from Carey Price in Game One at Boston. Scott Cullen has notes on Price, Tuukka Rask, P.K. Subban, Rene Bourque and more. HABS STEAL GAME ONE Despite being soundly outplayed by the hometown Boston Bruins, the Montreal Canadiens emerged from Game One with a 4-3 double-overtime win, thanks to G Carey Price, who stopped 48 of the 51 shots that he faced. Price had a career-best .927 save percentage this season, but he had a .904 save percentage in the first round sweep over Tampa Bay, so its not like this game was standard fare. During the regular season, Price had a dozen games during which he recorded at least 35 saves, ranking fifth in the league. What is important for the Canadiens, though, is that Price is capable of stealing games like this because thats likely what is going to be required if Montreal is going to upset a superior puck possession team. At the other end, Vezina Trophy favourite Tuukka Rask stopped 29 of 33 shots and he was critical of his own performance. Maybe a little hard on himself, as goalies can be, but it could also reflect some frustration. For as great as Rask has been to this point in his career -- he has the best save percentage in the league since 2009-2010 -- but has had his problems with Montreal, including a .908 save percentage in 17 regular-season games against the Habs and has yet to beat the Canadiens in Boston, now 0-9 after Game One. Montreal got a pair of goals -- their first and last -- from D P.K. Subban, who played a game-high 33:49 in Game One and now has seven points in five playoff games this season. Likely the most pleasant surprise of this postseason for the Habs has been LW Rene Bourque, who scored three goals against Tampa Bay in the first round and came up with a goal and an assist against Boston. The Bruins controlled play so thoroughly that LW Daniel Paille hhad their worst possession numbers, and he was still on for 51. Vans Shoes Outlet. 9% of 5-on-5 shot attempts. Defencemen Dougie Hamilton and Zdeno Chara as well as C Patrice Bergeron and RW Reilly Smith were all on for better than 70% of shot attempts. There was an interesting allocation at the bottom of the Habs puck possession chart for this game. LW Travis Moen (17.4%) was at the very bottom, but the next four, all under 26%, were the shortest Habs -- RW Brendan Gallagher, C David Desharnais, C Daniel Briere and D Mike Weaver. The only two Canadiens over 50% in shot attempts were Bourque and Lars Eller. Its just one game, so this could mean nothing at all, but it might be worth watching to see if the Canadiens smaller players continue to have possession problems as the series progresses. Credit to Eller, by the way, for coming up with positive possession stats while starting with one offensive zone face-off compared to 17 in the defensive zone (5.6%) in Game One. One of the subplots of the game, from Montreals perspective, is that head coach Michel Therrien demoted RW Thomas Vanek from the first line to the fourth line from a point early in the second period until midway through the third period. Vanek finished the game with 18:58 of ice time, which ranked ninth among Montreal forwards. Certainly getting a Game One win on the road is favourable under any circumstances, but getting it in a game in which they were so thoroughly dominated is especially good for the Canadiens, who had to lean so heavily on their goaltending to even have a chance. Now, can they close the possession gap and try to take Game Two in Boston without requiring Price to deliver another out-of-this-world performance? Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. ' ' '
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