SANDY LYLE was hoping to go out on a high as he prepared to play at St Andrews in the Open for the final time.

The 57-year-old Scot only has three years left in the tournament after being granted annual entry until he turns 60 as a reward for lifting the Claret Jug back in 1985.

With the Open not set to return to the Old Course until 2020, Lyle, who also won the US Masters in 1988, expects this to be his last hurrah at the home of golf – and he hopes to make the most of the occasion.

He said: “This will be my last St Andrews trip as the time it comes back around in five years I won’t be around. I want to do as well as I can here. I’m still competitive and I’m hitting the ball not too badly at the moment.

"I’m not sure I want be able to keep up with some of the guys like Jordan Spieth or Tiger Woods, but I could ruffle a few feathers!

“I’m sure come the final round it will be emotional going over the Swilcan Bridge possibly for the last time. It comes to us all at some stage. This would be a nice place to finish.”

Thirty years on from his Open success at Royal St George’s, Lyle reflected fondly on his career highlight.

He added: “It answered a lot of questions. Everybody says ‘you’ve got so much natural ability, you’re going to win The Open’. It’s not ‘if’ you win The Open, it’s ‘when’ you win The Open, but you just don’t know as a player. There’s no telling. You’ve got to take the chance while they’re there. So I was happy to get the monkey off the back and get one under the belt.”

Heavy winds and rain are forecast for St Andrews over the next few days and Lyle thinks it will add extra spice to the competition.

He said: "The weather sounds like it could be a bit rough on Saturday. I like that in some ways because it will sort a lot of the players out, whether it’s the Americans or whatever. It makes life a little harder.

"If the weather was too nice and the conditions were too soft, they’d be shooting the lights out round here, the big-hitters. I wouldn’t really even have chance of making the cut.”

Lyle has been impressed with the dramatic rise of Jordan Spieth, the American teeing off this morning looking to claim his third Major of the year after previous successes in the Masters and US Open.

“He’s the real deal isn’t he? He’s already got two Majors under his belt. I watched his US Open win and I kind of felt for him when he made his double bogey on the 17th. Of all the times to do it!

"But he turned round, just kind of brushed it off and made a very, very solid birdie at the last hole. It shows you he’s made of the real deal this one. I think he’ll chase Rory McIlroy for quite a wee while now.

"Rory’s got some work to do now. It’s good stuff. It’s nice to see. It’s not all about Tiger Woods all day. Nothing against Tiger, but it’s nice to see that we have got players coming around.”