Midway through the front nine of the final round of the Emirates Australian Open at The Australian today young American Jordan Spieth was out in front.

Midway through the front nine of the final round of the Emirates Australian Open at The Australian today young American Jordan Spieth was out in front.

But the northeasterly wind was firing up again, and low scoring was seemingly out of the question.

The tournament might well become a war of attrition. Overnight, there were just eight players under par. Now it is just six.

Adam Scott, seeking peace of mind after losing to Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy at Royal Sydney after appearing to have the Stonehaven Cup in his grasp, remains even par today and four under for the tournament after four holes and is the nearest pursuer to Chalmers, twice the open champion, and Spieth.

The last American to win our national open was Brad Faxon in 1993 at Metropolitan, venue for last week’s Australian Masters won by Nick Cullen.

McIlroy is surely out of contention. He turned one over today and is two over in total and his only chance of victory would be if a proverbial bus ran amok among those behind him on the course.

An idea of how close the greens are to being on the edge, as the players say, was that green staff were out watering the greens behind as the field moved onwards as the temperature headed north.