IF the last two Open Championships are anything to go by, then this week’s affair at Carnoustie has a heck of a lot to live up to. The Showdoon in Troon between Henrik Stenson and Phil Mickelson in 2016 was a staggering shoot-out for the ages which left all and sundry with mouths agape like whales homing in on a shoal of krill. We thought that would take some topping but then along came Jordan Spieth’s Shoogle in Southport during that mind-mangling Open at Royal Birkdale a year ago.

Disaster to delight, calamity to conquest, tribulation to jubilation? Whatever you want to call it, Spieth went through it as golf revelled in another of its greatest days. If the late Seve was the Car Park Champion up the coast at Lytham in 1979, then Spieth was the Practice Range Champion in 2017. His escapade on the 13th hole was ghoulishly enthralling as he hoiked his tee-shot so far right into the dunes, the R&A just about had to scramble the Sefton Sands Search & Rescue Unit.

Spieth spent 21 agonising minutes plootering around as he weighed up his options during an increasingly anguish-laden palaver that threatened to be the mother of all golfing meltdowns. After much humming, hawing, pointing and pondering Spieth opted to take an unplayable and go back some 50 yards on to the driving range to play his third shot amid the articulated equipment wagons that were parked up there. You half expected an announcement to come over the Birkdale tannoy asking, “could the owner of the Callaway truck with the registration FE17 OUE, please return to your vehicle.”

Somehow, Spieth managed to salvage a bogey – “the greatest bogey by a mile”, his caddie later said – and the rest is history. That escape provided the catalyst for a quite stunning thrust as he covered his last five holes in five-under to surge to victory. The final round had made for compelling viewing. And Spieth felt compelled to view it once the dust had settled. Not all of it, mind you

“I got home to Dallas the next day and I couldn't help but turn on the final round,” reflected Spieth ahead of his defence of the Claret Jug in Angus this week. “But I didn’t watch the first 12 holes and actually fast-forwarded until the tee shot on 13. I didn’t even know exactly what happened on that tee shot. And then from there, about five minutes into the looking for the ball, I got pretty annoyed with it because it was a lot longer than I remember.

“For me at the time, it went by pretty quickly. It was like ‘OK, decision here, decision here, now I need to drop here, now I need to do this’. But with the coverage and with the commercials they come back and it seems like we haven't even moved. I was like, ‘man, that really did take a long time’. That was kind of tough to watch.”

It may have been hands-over-the-eyes stuff but those hands were raising the Claret Jug aloft at the end. Becoming the Champion Golfer of the Year is not an easy task even if some have plotted an easier route to victory than Spieth did.

Spieth earned it the hard way and it’s a title he has cherished holding. “The Champion Golfer of the Year is such a cool title,” added the 24-year-old Texan. “It doesn't get used over here on the PGA Tour. It's not that we get announced anyways at tournaments as we are teeing off, but I'm looking forward to having that announcement again as I get on to the tee.

“Last year when those words were spoken on the green at Birkdale, it just hit me. It was almost like someone had punched me in the gut … but in the best way possible. You need to realise how special this is and embrace what it means. I look forward to teeing it up at Carnoustie, having those chills go through me as I step to the first tee and remember the year before.”

The tales from these storied links of Carnoustie continue to echo. It will be 65 years since Ben Hogan’s revered triumph here in 1953 and half a century since Gary Player conquered in 1968. Tom Watson’s maiden Open win in 1975 always crops up while Paul Lawrie’s epic victory nearly 20 years ago remains cherished. It’s just a shame Scotland’s last male Major winner will be an observer from the sidelines due to injury.

Spieth, meanwhile, is very much part of golf’s vibrant present and a first trip to Carnoustie is being eagerly anticipated.

“I've seen Opens at Carnoustie, I've seen that the golf course has a reputation and a nickname, ‘Car-nasty’, among a lot of the players for being that difficult,” he said. “I know the challenge Carnoustie presents, especially over the finishing holes. But really, throughout the entire golf course, it’s a tremendous challenge. As a competitor, you look forward to that tough but fair test.”

By his own admission, it’s been a bit of a topsy-turvy campaign for Spieth in 2018. He is still seeking a first win since last year’s Open triumph and a third in the Masters was followed by a missed cut in the US Open last month. Despite the fluctuating form, Spieth remains confident of conjuring another Major moment.

“I have no doubt in my ability to come back and defend whether form is on, off or indifferent,” he said. “I've proven to myself that I can go from two missed cuts to potentially winning the week after in previous years. That's not anything that throws me off.

"But at the same time, it is nice to kind of feel like you're at least proceeding the right way; that you're gaining a little bit of momentum which is important for the defence of the Open.”