With Rory McIlroy’s major championship drought put to rest, the questions of “Will he?” and “When?” may be focused more than ever on Jordan Spieth.
Spieth enjoyed a white-hot run from 2015 to 2017 during which he captured three legs of the career Grand Slam. Eight years later, the 31-year-old is still one major shy of golf’s ultimate achievement — in his case, the PGA Championship.
Spieth is prepared for a bit more spotlight as he prepares for the PGA this week at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, N.C.
Once the No. 1 golfer in the world rankings, Spieth’s game took a nosedive not long after he clinched his third major at the 2017 Open championship. He bottomed out at No. 92 early in 2021, so questions of completing the Grand Slam were replaced by whether he’d turn things around or even make the cut.
Spieth admitted as much when a reporter asked him Tuesday if he ever felt insulted that fans or the media stopped discussing his Grand Slam hopes.
“A lot of times, I wasn’t in very good form,” Spieth said. “If you’re not in very good form coming into a major — I mean, I had a chance in 2019, and I was not in form. …
“I feel a lot better now than, say, I did in (2019), but it’s very — I’m not insulted by it. Typically there’s a lot of storylines.”
Spieth referenced Phil Mickelson’s long and ultimately fruitless struggle to win a U.S. Open, the last major missing from his career Grand Slam. In more recent times, McIlroy had been the shining example. Not only had his major victories dried up after 2014, he was missing arguably the most prestigious major of them all, the Masters.
That finally changed last month when the Northern Irishman won the green jacket in a dramatic Sunday finish at Augusta National Golf Club. McIlroy gave away a four-shot lead only to beat Englishman Justin Rose in a playoff.
Spieth said Tuesday that watching McIlroy’s accomplishment was inspiring, though not necessarily extra motivating.
“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. “Obviously watching Rory win after giving it a try for a number of years was inspiring.
“Something like (the Grand Slam) 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.”
Specifically, McIlroy was just the sixth man to finish the modern Grand Slam, joining Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods.
“It’s funny, I think, if Rory didn’t, then it wouldn’t have been a storyline for me here necessarily,” Spieth said. “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.”
For now, Spieth is ranked 48th in the world and has three top-10 finishes in 2025, most recently fourth at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson two weeks ago, when he watched fellow Dallas native Scottie Scheffler win their hometown event.
Spieth is also recovered from a wrist injury that originally occurred two years ago, prompting him to undergo surgery last August. He said there have been “less and less” lingering effects as the season has worn on.
“The ease of not worrying about it dislocating, I guess, or subluxing, I think, is the term for this specific (injury), is really nice,” he said.
“Just off the course, 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. So when I’m golfing, I haven’t really been thinking about it the last couple of months.”
–Field Level Media
