Jordan Spieth eager to emulate Rory McIlroy and complete career grand slam

Jordan Spieth admits he has been inspired by Rory McIlroy completing the career grand slam as he bids to join golf’s most exclusive club himself.

Just five weeks after McIlroy won the Masters to become the sixth player to have claimed all four major titles, Spieth can make it a magnificent seven by ending his own major drought with victory in the US PGA Championship at Quail Hollow.

It will be Spieth’s ninth attempt to complete the career grand slam since he secured the third leg in the 2017 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale and he will be optimistic of mounting a sustained challenge for the first time.

Although Spieth was third at Bethpage in 2019 he finished six shots behind winner Brooks Koepka and was only that close thanks to five bogeys in the last eight holes from his Ryder Cup team-mate.

It is also three years since Spieth’s last victory on the PGA Tour at the RBC Heritage, but he had recorded four straight top-20 finishes before last week’s tie for 34th in the Truist Championship and closed with a bogey-free 62 in the CJ Cup Byron Nelson, his lowest round for four years.

“There’s been a number of years I’ve come to the PGA and no-one’s really asked me about it,” Spieth said of the career grand slam.

“There’s been some years where it was a storyline, I guess. It’s funny, I think if Rory hadn’t (done it) then it wouldn’t have been a storyline for me here necessarily.

“I just feel like I’ve been asked about it more than other years, including years like ’22 when I came in after winning and finishing second back-to-back. So I’ve kind of been surprised by the dynamic a little bit.

“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. 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 (the grand slam) 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.”

Spieth insisted he was not “insulted” to be overlooked as a potential winner on occasion due to his indifferent form, but feels it is a different story this week at a venue where he won all five of his matches in the 2022 Presidents Cup.

“I think I’ve been trending really well,” Spieth added. “I had an off week on approach (shots) last week, which has actually been something that’s been, I think, trending nicely for me.

“Just made some kind of dumb mistakes that were multiple-shot problems around that kind of old-school course.

“But kind of throwing that out, I feel really good about some of the stuff I’ve been working on, some of the mechanics and traction of how I’m swinging the club or getting more sound and more consistent.

“I’m getting more confident in that, feeling like I can play all the ball flights that I’d like to. You need that around this golf course because you’ve got to work it both ways, different heights.

“Although the course is soft now, the greens – even as it was raining, were still firm so you’re just going to have to be a shot maker around here.”