Charlotte (AFP) – Jordan Spieth makes his ninth attempt to complete a career Grand Slam this week by winning the PGA Championship, drawing inspiration from Rory McIlroy completing his own career Slam. Spieth, who has not won any event since 2022, has battled back from left wrist surgery last August and feels like he has an opportunity this week at Quail Hollow just as McIlroy did when he won last month’s Masters to become the sixth golfer to win all four major titles.
“Watching Rory win after giving it a try for a number of years was inspiring,” Spieth said on Tuesday. “You could tell it was a harder win. Most of the time he makes it look a lot easier. So that obviously 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 love to throw my hat in the ring and give it a chance come the weekend this week.”
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Spieth will join Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Gary Player, Ben Hogan, Gene Sarazen, and McIlroy in completing the Slam if he wins the PGA. Improvement off the tee after the surgery gives him confidence he can make it happen. “Nowadays I think I actually, because of my driver becoming a weapon more than it used to be, that leaves me in a position where I feel a little more comfortable on these courses,” Spieth said. “You’ve got to go out and execute, but a familiar golf course is nice. I think that’s an advantage a little bit. Then the fact that it’s this big slopey Bermuda (grass), I grew up on that, so it’s a good opportunity this week for sure.”
The 31-year-old American won the 2015 Masters and US Open and 2017 British Open but has not taken any title since capturing his 13th tour crown at the 2022 PGA Heritage. “I think I’ve been trending really well,” Spieth said. “I feel really good about some of the stuff I’ve been working on.” Spieth has three top 10 finishes this year, the best of them fourth two weeks ago at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson. He has four top 20 efforts in his past five events as wrist surgery and past dislocations become only memories.
“Just the ease of not worrying about it dislocating is really nice,” said Spieth. “I’m able to pick my kids up and throw them around and my wrist doesn’t dislocate. You can imagine that’s a good feeling. When I’m golfing, I haven’t really been thinking about it the last couple of months.”
– ‘Always circled’ –
Spieth said he has not thought more about the Slam since McIlroy’s Masters win, but has been asked about it more often. “A number of years I’ve come to the PGA and no one’s really asked me about it,” he said. “But it’s always circled on the calendar. For me, if I could only win one tournament for the rest of my life, I’d pick this one for that reason.”
Spieth said he was not insulted by not being asked more Slam questions in recent years because he simply was not playing well. “The years I’m talking about, a lot of times, I wasn’t in very good form,” Spieth said. The best finish for Spieth at the PGA Championship was a runner-up effort in 2015. He also shared third in 2019. Spieth shared 28th at the 2017 PGA at Quail Hollow in his first attempt at the career Slam.
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