With Rory McIlroy's shoulders and careers that the professional slam is now secured, the world of golf shifts its focus to Jordan Spieth.
Now it's his turn.
Spieth competes in the Truist Championship this week and can win a professional grand slam in the next week's PGA Championship. It was the only major championship he failed to win throughout his career, although he has been close many times.
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Spieth finished second in the 2015 competition, the same year he won the Masters and the U.S. Open, and four years later he was third. Spieth also won the British Open in 2017.
Spieth's situation is similar to what McIlroy is in. McIlroy's victory in the Masters last month limits an 11-year major championship drought, and watching has been increasingly painful in recent years. The victory made McIlroy the sixth golfer in history to complete a professional grand slam and the first since Tiger Woods. Spieth's last big win was eight years ago.
McIlroy admitted on Wednesday that it was very stressful not only to win professional pressure, but to complete a professional grand slam.
"You know you're not only going to win another game, but you're trying to be a part of history, which has a certain weight," McIlroy said. "I certainly felt Augusta over the years. I'm sure Jordan felt like every PGA had some chances that he had the same thing."
However, for better or worse, Spieth's position is slightly different. McIlroy only needs to win at Augusta National, he knows that year and year. Spieth's professional grand slam is a moving goal, and every spring, the PGA Championship plays in the new course.
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This time, they will be back at Hollow Club Quill in North Carolina.
“It’s a different proposition for him, not that I have to go back to the same place every year and try to do it,” McIlroy said. “It’s like you try to put yourself in the right mindset, just try to win a golf tournament and then let everything else happen, right there. Consciously or subconsciously, you’ll feel.”
Spieth had a big moment and won the biggest stages of golf throughout his career, so there was no doubt that he had the ability to lift the Wanamaker Trophy next Sunday afternoon.
But he won't be the highest choice or fan favorite like McIlroy did in Augusta.
Spieth has struggled in recent years after three major seasons from 2014 to 2017. He has only won twice on the PGA Tour since winning the British Open and hasn't won the championship since 2022 Royal Bank of Canada (RBC). He has only three top 10 in the big championships over the past five years and has only finished the top 30 in the PGA Championship since the 2019 T3.
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He didn't win, but Spieth has been relatively solid so far this season. He missed only 10 times in this week's game at Philadelphia Cricket Club, and he finished fourth in the CJ Cup Byron Nelson in Texas last week.
Spieth will serve with Min Woo Lee and Maverick McNealy in the first two rounds of this week's Truist Championship and the final song before the next Grand Slam. Whether he admits it publicly or not, the next pressure of the Grand Slam is here - many others are ready to jump in and beat him.
"I think you realize how hard it is," Xander Schauffele said. "It took 11 years (McIlroy) and Jordan was the next closest person, and then everyone else, just three years ago they cut it.
"One, it would be great to have myself in the right position. I'm far away...it's extremely motivated. It's something I've always wanted to do."