But that was then. It can't happen now. Or can it? Those same voices who insisted Jordan Spieth was going to be the youngest man since Jack Nicklaus to win two Green Jackets don't think so.

Now they say the Texan is going to become just the second player since Nicklaus to win three legs of golf's Grand Slam before age 24.

Spieth is three shots clear of Matt Kuchar at the top of the leaderboard, six ahead of third-placed Brooks Koepka and Austin Connelly.

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10 April, 2016. A day which golf fans will remember for a long time. A day which Danny Willett will remember for the rest of his life. A day which Jordan Spieth is trying to forget for the rest of his life...

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It was 50 minutes of pure sporting theatre, a drama containing surprise, heartbreak and joy, providing stomach-churning moments which you could only watch through your fingers.

Spieth held a five-shot lead on the 10th tee of his final round. Less than an hour later, he had made two bogeys and dunked his ball into the drink on the iconic 12th. Twice.

A meltdown of Greg Norman proportions. A calamity that Jean van der Velde would have settled for...

And then there were two....

That is the kind of hole us mere mortals come up with on the first when we haven't warmed up or even taken a practice swing. Heck, that's the kind of opening hole we produce when we've been in the club bar for three hours prior.

Hideki Matsuyama was out of bounds, bunker and two putts by my reckoning. A triple.

Rafa Cabrera-Bello's best finish at an Open was tied 21st in 2013, he'll be confident of topping that this time around and has made a consistent start to the final day at Royal Birkdale.

Par at the first, another par at the second... the Spaniard carded his only bogey of the day there yesterday.

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At 5 feet 7 inches tall, 10.7 stone heavy and bearing the wispy facial hair of a college freshman grooming his first beard, Austin Connelly doesn't quite fit the image of the big-hitting, modern-day golfer.

Connelly is a 20-year-old from Texas playing under the Canadian flag on his major championship debut, and making the Maple Leaf proud.

You'd be forgiven for never having heard of him when he approached the first tee on Thursday, but the world number 524 has played his way into the conversation this weekend and sits tied third heading into his final round.

Having won a play-off at Royal Cinque Ports to qualify for Royal Birkdale, the Austin-raised youngster is six strokes behind good friend and Open leader Jordan Spieth.

Here comes Brooks Koepka to the tee - the US Open champion sporting a a spearmint shirt and grey trousers.

He sends his drive right, catching the rough.

Koepka is out alongside Austin Connelly, the 20-year-old making his major debut, and the Canadian goes left.

He's found the rough, too. Nervy start?

Royal Birkdale has taken an early lead against the all-British pairing of Ian Poulter and Richie Ramsay.

Poulter drops a shot on four before Ramsay does the same on the par-three fifth.

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Hideki Matsuyama is going to make a big score on one. His ball off the tee was out of bounds - that's confirmed. So this, from the fairway, is his fourth... rubbish. That really belongs in a bin liner - in this case, a bunker. Branden Grace will have to hug that fan who painfully deflected his ball from bushes, he's up on the green for two, 50ft from the pin.

Not the start Dustin Johnson hoped for. But those above him on the leaderboard will be secretly pleased. No-one wants to see DJ bounding up behind them. The American pushes his six foot right of the drain for an opening six on the par-four first. Hope you all cashed your bets...

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What do most top players do following a US Open win? Enjoy the limelight? Cash in on the moment with talkshow appearances and the chance to further their brand?

Not Brooks Koepka. The American didn't even play another tournament between winning at Erin Hills last month and rocking up at Royal Birkdale earlier this week.

Instead, Koepka chilled out at his home in Florida and played plenty of golf out of the spotlight. That was, he said, always the plan regardless of his US Open title.

It's not done him any harm. In fact, the 27-year-old is tied for third heading into Sunday's final round and looking to put the pressure on Messrs Kuchar and Spieth in front of him.

Rory McIlroy on three has missed the fairway. It doesn't prevent him going ultra loft from the rough... up she goes and again, into the sand she goes. Exactly the same as on two. From the beach he scoops to within three feet, that will be for par. These pesky bunkers are halting momentum early on.

DJ is not in tune. He clunks sideways out of the sand trap, knocking short of the hole with his fourth shot. Testing putt for a bogey.

Henrik Stenson rumbles up his lengthy birdie putt... looking good... looking very good... it just veers off right at the end.

The tee announcer states: "This game number seven. On the tee from Japan, Hideki Matsuyama. **applause rings out**"

Two practice swings, a long pause, then a pause at the top of his back swing and that is way, way right... that ball could be out of bounds. My, what a start.

"On the tee from South Africa... Branden Grace."

Again Grace wears a Gilet. Today's is grey. "FORE LEFT, FORE LEFT," they shout. His ball deflects off a fan into the rough. Lucky bounce. The bruise that fan has picked up has benefited Branden. Hideki hits a provisional up the middle.

You win some, you lose some. After getting a fortuitous bounce with opening drive, Lady Luck decides to leave Dustin Johnson. His approach from the semi-rough flies over the right-to-left dogleg, clipping the right edge of the left-hand bunker in front of the first green and shooting back into the sand.

No such problem for Henrik Stenson. The Swede is up on the dancefloor with a neat approach. It must be hot out there, Stenson has a patch of sweat on his back. Oh, wait... it is the pattern.

Tom Fordyce
Chief sports writer at Royal Birkdale

You have that sense when you watch Roger Federer that as beautiful as it is for us to watch, it can be very cruel on his opponents.

With these two, they are on course for their greatest ever Open, but they are almost only going to be remembered for the context in which by how many shots ahead the winner finishes.

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A pro since 2004, Surrey's Ross Fisher has been playing the golf since the age of three. He says he played 36 holes at the age of four, which in my book is a heck of a walk.

In 13 years he's picked up five European Tour wins but has just one top-five finish in a major - the 2009 US Open.

The 36-year-old says he's not superstitious before rounds but will always make sure he has three tees in his pocket - which sounds like a superstitious move to me. He's also a bit of a petrol head and if he wasn't a golfer says he'd be trying to get a job on Top Gear.

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Well holed Rory, nice weight and stroke from around eight feet. Par saved. Ross Fisher has had a nightmare start, following bogey on one with double on two. Get that boy an ice cream because he's melting down.

Solid start for Rafa Cabrera-Bello after a slight scare off the tee, he scrambles his way back to par with a solid putt from 12 feet or so that breaks slightly right at the last minute to drop into the cup.

Playing partner Chan Kim follows suit with a par on the first.

Henrik Stenson has a glance over at the Claret Jug, stood next to the first tee, probably wondering how he is going to fill the void on his mantelpiece of such a wonderful bit of bling. The Swede wallops his opening drive down the middle.

Next up is Dustin Johnson, the world number one going slightly left but enjoying a neat kick out of the thick stuff into the first cut.