Spieth hopes McIlroy can recover for Open showdown

Double Major winner Jordan Spieth believes defending champion Rory McIlroy’s potential absence from the British Open through injury would “dampen” the occasion. McIlroy’s title defence and keenly anticipated contest against Spieth was thrown into doubt on Monday when the Northern Irishman revealed he had ruptured an ankle ligament while playing soccer with friends. While many observers believe McIlroy is certain to miss the third Major of the season, the American winner of this year’s US Masters and US Open is keen to see the world No. 1 recover in time to play at St Andrews next week. “It kind of dampens it. You want the defending champion, much less the best player in the world at the event,” Spieth said when asked about the 26-year-old’s injury.