Jordan Spieth Goes For Career Grand Slam At PGA Championship

Jordan Spieth could become just the sixth man to win all four majors in the modern era

Jordan Spieth Goes For Career Grand Slam At PGA Championship

Jordan Spieth has the chance to create history this year at the PGA Championship.

The 27-year-old is bidding to become just the sixth man to win the Career Grand Slam when he tees it up at the Ocean Course on Kiawah Island, with the Wanamaker Trophy the only one missing from his major cabinet.

Related: Kiawah Island Ocean Course Guide

Spieth would join Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Gene Sarazen, Gary Player and Ben Hogan as modern slam winners, with Bobby Jones' 1930 haul of the Open, US Open, British Amateur and US Amateur acknowledged as the original slam.

Back in 2020 as we were preparing for the PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park, many people ruled Spieth out because of his struggles over the past few years. However this has recently changed because at the start of 2021 the American had a string of top-10's culminating with a victory at the Valero Texas Open.

A week later he then came T3 at The Masters too so he appears to have shrugged off the issues he had been having, for now at least.

Related: PGA Championship Live Stream

As far as form is concerned, Spieth has answered those questions but we should take this moment to relate his game to the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island.

It can be set up to be a very long golf course which could hold Spieth back because the one part of his game that isn't as sharp as everything else is the driving. Currently he ranks 151st in Strokes Gained: Off The Tee, averages just 297 yards and only hits the fairway 52% of the time.

However the rest of his game is excellent right now as he ranks in the top-40 in most other important Strokes Gained categories. He also seems to be scoring very well despite the occasional issue off the tee.

If he can just limit the odd poor shot with the big stick then it would come as no surprise if Spieth was in contention on Sunday.

Related: Jordan Spieth What's In The Bag?

So bearing all this in mind, could he win the PGA Championship?

When you consider Spieth's overall record in Majors, and his ability to play well despite not being on his top form, he is always a difficult player to bet against.

What cannot be questioned is his drive to complete the career Grand Slam. In a press conference he was asked about how much it was in his mind and he said;

"About as much as it's been since I won The Open Championship, I guess. It's something that I really want. It's probably the No. 1 goal in the game of golf for me right now is to try and capture that. I'd love to be able to hold all four trophies, and this is the one that comes in the way right now.

"Between this event, The Players, those are kind of the two events that I haven't won that are the two that I really would like to.

"It doesn't add anything extra. I can't imagine it would. It didn't really last year (2019), and I had a chance coming in. That was probably my best chance to win it so far, and it really didn't have much of an extra effect on top of what major championships already add when you're stepping on the tee Saturday and Sunday when you're in contention."