Golf-Spieth's plenty long enough off the tee, says Calcavecchia

By Martyn Herman St ANDREWS, Scotland, July 15 (Reuters) - Jordan Spieth averages 30 yards shorter off the tee than the PGA Tour's big hitters but is plenty long enough to tame St Andrews and win the British Open, says fellow American Mark Calcavecchia. The 55-year-old Calcavecchia, winner of the British Open at Royal Troon in 1989, struggled for distance in Wednesday's practise round and thinks Sunday's winner will be a player who "can put it out there" but does not buy into the theory that 21-year-old Spieth lacks power. "Jordan is not as short as you think he is, nobody has ever said he's short, let's put it that way," Calcavecchia told Reuters after playing in Wednesday's Champion Golfers' Challenge along with Gary Player, Stewart Cink and Padraig Harrington. "I think he's top 75 percent in distance but remember he wields the best putter in the world and is a hell of an iron player, wedge player and everything else, and he has the best mind so he's still favourite to win." Grand slam chasing Spieth is 76th on the PGA stats for average driving distance with 291 yards, compared to the 319 yards of Dustin Johnson, one of the hot tips. "I think they'll have an advantage for sure, especially as it's supposed to be windy and rainy at times, it's not going to roll much, so I think the guys who hit it out there far will be in the mix, Dustin Johnson, Bubba (Watson)," Calcavecchia added. Phil Mickelson, winner at Muirfeild in 2013 after a hot and cold relationship with links golf finally bore fruit, also believes Spieth is favourite, but said Lady Luck would be just as important as pre-tournament statistics. "He's definitely the favourite, that's no surprise, he's playing some phenomenal golf," Mickelson said of the Masters and U.S. Open champion. "But to win this championship you need to play excellent golf and you need luck. "Whether it's the bounces, the weather, the draw, whatever, an element of luck will always come into play. "It's tough to predict a winner at this point because you don't know how those factors will play out." Mickelson comes in somewhat under the radar but says he feels good about his game. "I'm excited because I feel really good with the putter," the 45-year-old, without a win for two years, told reporters. "It's hard to differentiate yourself on this course tee to green, but the way you do that is with the 30 footers." (Reporting by Martyn Herman; editing by Toby Davis)