At the age of 27, Jordan Spieth has the rare opportunity of becoming only the sixth golfer ever to complete a career Grand Slam at this week’s PGA Championship, writes ANDRE HUISAMEN.
Spieth already has Masters (2015), US Open (2015) and British Open (2017) crowns to his name but his recent return to form has a lot of bookmakers favouring him to add the Wanamaker Trophy to his cabinet on Sunday.
After claiming his third Major at Royal Birkdale, and riding high on confidence, things began to go wrong for Spieth.
Despite finishing second in the FedEx Cup in 2017, Spieth’s downfall would commence throughout the 2018 and 2019 seasons where poor results and rhythm struggles halted his great achievements he made at such a young age.
With high expectations, overhype became very much real when Spieth tumbled even further in form and the world rankings in the Covid-19-hit 2020 season.
But, the new year brought about a change in fortunes for the young American, who has been able to restore order – culminating in a victory at the Valero Texas Open.
Suddenly, Spieth was a hot favourite to win the 2021 Masters a week later, where he fell short by settling for an impressive T3 finish.
Now, with the stakes high again and Spieth back in form, he has the opportunity to join an elite club of golfers who have won all four Majors.
Only Tiger Woods, Gary Player, Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan and Jack Nicklaus have achieved this historic feat.
Spieth’s approach could be well suited for the expected conditions at Ocean Course in South Carolina. His short game and iron work will be beneficial provided he’s firing on all cylinders over the coming four days, with few other players as capable as Spieth in this.
With his tail up and momentum firmly back, another breakthrough win seems imminent for Spieth with the PGA Championship the ultimate prize this week.
