Jordan Spieth heads into the 2026 PGA Championship making his 10th attempt at completing the career Grand Slam.
When Spieth won the 2017 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale, in a swashbuckling style he's made his trademark, it gave him his third Major title - and victory at a third different Major.
It seemed inevitable that such a constant threat at the Majors would join that elusive career Grand Slam club - but a decade later the wait goes on.
And after storming onto the Major scene, almost winning his first three Masters titles and almost winning every Major in 2015, winning the Grand Slam has never seemed further away.
As Spieth has been a relative non-factor in the Majors in recent years, with a loss of form and injuries combining to add to his struggles.
So as he prepares for his latest bid to become the seventh Grand Slam winner, he's teeing it up at Aronmink in hope rather than expectation.
"So as far as the career Grand Slam, this tournament’s always highlighted. If I can win one more tournament in my life, it would obviously be this one for that reason," Spieth explained.
"But the easiest way to do that is to not try to, in a weird way, you know."
The halcyon days seem long gone for Spieth and both his recent results in the PGA Championship and Majors in general don't suggest a Wanamaker trophy is imminent.
Jordan Spieth's Major form slump
Spieth could easily have won The Masters on his first three visits, winning his one Green Jacket either side of two second-place finishes - the last being that huge 2016 collapse.
In 2015 he came closer than almost anyone else to winning all four Majors in a year as he mopped up the first two - The Masters and US Open.
He just missed out on a play-off at The Open at St Andrews before playing in the final group but coming up short in the PGA Championship.
The 2017 Open followed and two more top 10s in 2018 but they have dried up since.
"I went on a run of feeling like I was contending or having a good chance of contending at every Major for a number of years and then it was periodic," Spieth explained.
"I feel like I’m close to being able to go back to doing that again. So I just want to give myself a chance.”
First 24 Majors |
Last 28 Majors |
|
|---|---|---|
Wins |
3 |
0 |
Runner-Ups |
3 |
1 |
Top 5s |
2 |
3 |
Top 10s |
1 |
1 |
Missed Cuts |
4 |
5 |
In Spieth's first 24 Majors, including one as an amateur, he won three, finished second three times with three other top 10s.
In his 28 Majors since, Spieth has one runner-up spot among five top 10s, with as many missed cuts.
He's gone 12 Majors without a top 10 finish.
Jordan Spieth's PGA Championship record
Spieth's best result in the PGA Championship remains that second spot in 2015 at Whistling Straits - where he went into the final round just two shots behind Jason Day.
Playing in the final pairing though he ended up finishing three behind the Australian.
Since beginning his Grand Slam quest, Spieth has just one top-10 finish at the PGA Championship in nine attempts - and that was a distant T3 six shots behind Brooks Koepka.
So he's not really challenged at all since 2015, and certainly not since he claimed his third Major to move to the brink of Grand Slam history.
Played |
13 |
Cuts made |
10 |
Best |
RU (2015) |
Other Top 10s |
1 (T3 2019) |
Average finish |
26th |
Scoring average |
70.48 |
Jordan Spieth's recent stats & form
"My game has been getting better and better," Spieth has insisted this week. "It’s plenty good to have a chance to win."
It'd be a huge shock for a player without a tournament victory since 2022 to pop up and win the PGA Championship though.
Spieth hasn't even registered a top 10 finish in any event in almost a year - the last being a T7 at The Memorial last June.
Are there signs of improvement though? Well, his T12 at The Masters was Spieth's best result in 12 Majors, and he has four top-12 finishes this season overall.
He shot 65 to start the Cadillac Championship and of all things he was second in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee at the Truist Championship - a novelty for someone as wayward as Spieth usually is.
So green shoots of recovery but surely far too much to find to see him challenge the likes of Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler and the rest this week.
We have learned though that where Jordan Spieth is concerned it's always best to expect the unexpected.
