Moving-Day Gauntlet at British Open Will Test Jordan Spieth's Superstar Mettle

We already know that Jordan Spieth is special, but we're about to find out just how much fortitude the 21-year-old has.

If Spieth is going to make history Sunday at the British Open by winning his third straight major, he's going to need to play the best golf of his life Saturday.

The Masters and U.S. Open champion only finished 13 holes of golf Friday at St. Andrews after the round was suspended due to darkness. A three-hour rain delay sat at the root of the suspension, pushing tee times later for many golfers. Spieth currently sits at five under par, tied for 15th after making three birdies and three bogeys on the day.

Jon Super/Associated Press

Heading into moving day, Spieth is five strokes back of his playing partner and the clubhouse leader, Dustin Johnson.

Now, he has to finish five holes Saturday morning in Scotland to complete his second round. Then he must continue to mount a comeback in the third round to put himself into contention Sunday.

That's a tough ask, even for a phenom who seems poised to do the impossible at all times.

What has to be worrisome for Spieth and his fans is that he seemed to struggle in the windy, rainy conditions Friday, as noted by PGATour.com's Sean Martin:

Others handled the elements much better—most notably his playing partners.

Johnson shot three under par through 13 holes, moving him to 10 under for the championship. Following his heartbreaking finish at the U.S. Open in June, the 31-year-old is looking like the man to beat.

After their first round Thursday, in which Johnson shot a seven-under par 65 and Spieth shot a 67, Spieth talked about the pressure of playing against his powerful compatriot (via ASAP Sports):

"

[If] D.J. keeps driving it the way he is, then I'm going to have to play my best golf to have a chance. It's hard to argue with somebody who's splitting bunkers at about 380 yards and just two-putting for birdie on five or six of the holes when there's only two par-5s. I don't have that in the bag, so I've got to make up for it with ball-striking.

"

Of course, Johnson isn't Spieth's only hurdle. The third golfer in their group, Hideki Matsuyama, made eight birdies and only two bogeys through 14 holes Friday. The 23-year-old Japanese star ended the day at six under par, tied for 10th.

Jon Super/Associated Press

Elsewhere, Adam Scott is at seven under par after 36 holes following a five-under-par round Friday. Englishman Danny Willett shot a three-under-par second round and sits at nine under par for the championship. Jason Day is tied for third at eight under par after a round where he made three birdies and only one bogey in 11 holes.

In fact, of the 18 players tied with Spieth or better headed into the weekend, Spieth and Retief Goosen are the only two who didn't shoot under par Friday. (Goosen shot even par through 18 holes and is at six under.)

So while Spieth is not out of contention for the title after Friday, he didn't take full advantage of the course or help himself much.

But, hey—nobody ever said it was easy to win three majors in a row. In fact, it's one of the toughest feats in sports.

Chris Chase of For The Win broke down the difficulty in a piece before the British Open began: 

"

[In 80 years], no man has won the first three legs of the Grand Slam and only two have won three majors in any order in a single season: Ben Hogan in 1953 and Tiger Woods in 2000. Tiger is the only player in history to have won four consecutive Slams, Hogan is the only one to have won the first three in a season.

"

If there's anyone who can defy the odds, though, it's Spieth.

His play lately has been nothing sort of sensational. He has won his last two tournaments, the U.S. Open and the John Deere Classic, and he has five victories and 10 top-five finishes on the season.

He led the Masters wire-to-wire, winning by four strokes, and backed that up by becoming only the sixth golfer in history to win the Masters and U.S. Open back-to-back.

But he didn't face atrocious weather in any of those rounds. He never had to come back from five shots down, and he never had to play 23 holes in a day like he will Saturday.

We're about to see just what this 21-year-old is made of. 

If Spieth is able to make history this weekend, nobody will be able to say it wasn't well-earned.