For the eighth year in succession, Jordan Spieth plays in the PGA Championship knowing he is just a solitary win away from completing his career Grand Slam.
The 31-year-old got halfway to it in 2015 with wins at The Masters and US Open. Two years later, victory at The Open left him needing just the PGA Championship to join one of golf’s most exclusive lists, which was added to in April when Rory McIlroy became the latest to win all four Majors in his career at The Masters.
With Quail Hollow the venue for Spieth's latest attempt at taking his place among the game’s greats, he opened up about the pressure of lifting the Wanamaker Trophy, but insisted that, despite McIlroy’s win last month, it hasn’t left him dwelling on the possibility any more than usual.
He said: “I don't think so. It's been more - I've been surprised at - there's been a number of years I've come to the PGA, and no one's really asked me about it. There's been some years where it was a storyline, I guess.
“It's funny, I think, if Rory didn't, then it wouldn't have been a storyline for me here necessarily. I mean, it's always a storyline if I work my way in, but at least ahead of time, I just feel like I've been asked about it more than other years, including years where I've come in - I want to say '22 I came in after winning and finishing second back-to-back, which I would have thought would be a time where that would have been one. So I've kind of been surprised by the dynamic a little bit."
Despite that, Spieth admitted that he was inspired by McIlroy’s Augusta National success after many years of trying, and revealed the PGA Championship would be the one tournament he would win if he could choose.
“It’s always circled on the calendar,” he added. “For me, if I could only win one tournament for the rest of my life, I'd pick this one for that reason. Obviously watching Rory win after giving it a try for a number of years was inspiring. You could tell it was a harder win than - 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.”
While anticipation of McIlroy getting the job done seemed to build with every passing year, it’s not always been the case with Spieth, with the possibility sometimes appearing to fly under the radar, but he insisted that doesn’t bother him.
“I'm not insulted by it,” he said. “Typically there's a lot of storylines. I feel like for so many years watching Phil's at the US Open, there was some, then it wasn't some, and then he wins the PGA recently, and all of a sudden it becomes a storyline in the US Open. It just kind of bounces back and forth within the noise, I guess.”
If Spieth does complete the career Grand Slam this week, it’ll be his first victory anywhere since the 2022 RBC Heritage, but he thinks his familiarity with Quail Hollow could work in his favor.
He said: “You've got to go out and execute, but a familiar golf course is nice. I don't feel like I have to learn where all the pins are and where all the misses are and stuff. You can ask me the hole location on any green around this place right now, and I can tell you how I'm going to play the hole and where I'm going to try to hit it. So it's nice to be at a familiar place this week, and I think that's an advantage a little bit.”
