Jordan Spieth isn’t one to turn up the heat—even when the career Grand Slam is within reach. The three-time major winner heads into this week’s PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club without a top-10 finish on the PGA Tour this season, yet his recent performances suggest he’s knocking on the door.
Reflecting on his approach, Spieth compared the process to smoking meat on his backyard smoker. “I was smoking chicken last fall, and it got up to 155 quickly and then took a while,” he recalled Monday. “I thought, man, this feels like what I’m trying to do in the swing—it gets a bit outside the boundaries we call sustainable, but it’s close. It matches what I want to do, and it’s producing the right stuff.”
His T12 at the Masters and T18 at the Cadillac Championship two weeks ago indicate the former world No. 1 may be ready to contend at a major again. The PGA Championship is the only missing piece for his career Grand Slam, a feat achieved by only six players: Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, and Rory McIlroy.
“It would be amazing to win this one and complete the Grand Slam,” Spieth told reporters. “But the easiest way to do that is not to force it. Just prepare for the first hole, have a solid game plan, and attack the course the way it needs to be attacked. My game has been getting better and better—it’s good enough to win. It’s about working my way into contention.”
Spieth, who claimed the Masters and U.S. Open in 2015 and the Open Championship in 2017, has managed only seven top-10s in majors since, including a T3 behind Brooks Koepka at the 2019 PGA Championship. He’s careful not to compare his journey to McIlroy’s long pursuit of the Masters, noting that “my situation at Augusta was different than his.” Instead, he focuses on regaining consistency: “I feel like I’m close to getting back to contending in every major again. I just want to give myself a chance.”
