There have been years when Jordan Spieth wasn’t even asked about completing the career Grand Slam at PGA Championship media days.
He didn’t find it insulting.
In fact, he kinda understood it.
“A lot of times,” he said, “I wasn’t in very good form.”
But that’s not the case this year, and it was fitting that Spieth kicked off the player interviews at Quail Hollow just a month after Rory McIlroy finally checked off the career Grand Slam at the Masters.
This will be Spieth’s ninth attempt to win the fourth and final leg. McIlroy needed a record 11 attempts (the previous high was three) to finally claim the Masters.
“It’s always circled on the calendar,” Spieth said. “For me, if I could only win one tournament for the rest of my life, I’d pick this one for that reason.
“Watching Rory win after giving it a try for a number of years was inspiring. Most of the time he makes it look a lot easier; so obviously that was on the forefront of his mind. Something like that has not been done by many people, and there’s a reason why. But I’d like to throw my hat in the ring and give it a chance come the weekend.”
Since his first attempt in 2017 (also here at Quail Hollow), Spieth hasn’t come particularly close. His only top-10 finish was in 2019, when even he admitted that he needed to “fake it” around Bethpage Black without anywhere near his best stuff while Brooks Koepka built a significant lead.
Throughout his career, Spieth has believed the PGA Championship would be the second-most difficult major for him to win. He acknowledged he was perhaps fortunate that the tournament he least expected to win, the U.S. Open, came at an atypical venue in Chambers Bay in 2015 and with some assistance from a late Dustin Johnson three-putt.
The PGA, with its preference for big ballparks with thick rough, hasn’t typically fit Spieth’s profile. But improvements to his driver have given him a new sense of confidence that he can handle this major’s unique demands. This season he’s increased both his ball speed and accuracy off the tee while posting three top-10s in his comeback from wrist surgery.
“Because of my driver becoming a weapon more than it used to be,” he said, “that leaves me in a position where I feel a little more comfortable on these courses.”
What makes this week different is that Spieth has seen Quail Hollow before during the regular PGA Tour stop – though in four tries, he’s never posted a top-25 finish. The course features wall-to-wall, sloped Bermudagrass that he grew up on in Dallas, which could represent one of his best chances to join golf’s most exclusive club.
“It’s a good opportunity this week, for sure,” he said.
Players with three legs of the career Grand Slam
(Note: best result relates to a player’s best finish in an event to complete the career Slam.)
