Spieth eyes career slam at PGA but still focused on small details
CHARLOTTE, North Carolina (Reuters) - Jordan Spieth has the chance to replace Tiger Woods as the youngest player to complete the career grand slam at this week’s PGA Championship, but the 24-year-old is focused on doing the little things right and hoping the rest takes care of itself.
The final major of the year arrives just three weeks after the British Open, leaving players barely enough time to catch their breath before teeing up in a championship that once billed itself as “Glory’s Last Shot.”
After Spieth’s epic victory at Royal Birkdale, the Texan will now try to complete the major set by winning the giant Wanamaker Trophy at Quail Hollow where play gets under way on Thursday.
With a solid tie for 13th at the Bridgestone Invitational in Akron on Sunday, Spieth showed that while he is not quite firing on all cylinders he has not lost his form.
He went fishing in the mountains of Montana for a week after capturing the Claret Jug, and while he was mostly pleased with the way he played on his return he acknowleded there was more to do, particularly dialing in his putting and making sure his alignment was inch perfect.
“Today I struck the ball beautifully,” he said earlier this week. “I drove the ball a lot better than I had been, which is really what I was looking for as we head into Quail Hollow, which is such a tough driving golf course.
“I came back from a week off and struggled a little bit with my alignment but each day felt a little bit more comfortable and now we’ve got a few more days of preparation for the PGA.”
Spieth said his putting has not been up to his usual lofty standards recently, apart from that late purple patch at the British Open where he was five-under from the 14th to 17th.
Meanwhile, Rory McIlroy is comfortable in the role of favorite and the 28-year-old said on Tuesday that his history at Quail Hollow puts him at great ease.
“I’ve had a lot of success here before,” the world number four told reporters. “I’ve always played well here. I’ve always felt comfortable on this golf course.”
McIlroy has played Quail Hollow seven times and won twice, firing a 62 in 2010 on the way to claiming his first PGA Tour title and a course-record 61 in winning the 2015 title. As for PGAs, he has played in eight and won two.
The four-time major winner was installed as 7-1 favorite over British Open champion Spieth, rated at 8-1 by online betting service Bovada in his quest to complete a career grand slam.
“I think it’s partly to do with the upturn in form that I’ve had over the last few weeks, and then my history on this golf course: a couple of wins, beaten in a playoff, a few other top 10s,” said the Northern Irishman, coming off topfive finishes at the British Open and last week’s WGC-Bridgestone.
It is a changed Quail Hollow this week, made longer with revisions to three holes on the front nine and more difficult with rough added and greens made faster – alterations that McIlroy said suited him.
The Northern Irishman is looking for his first win of 2017 and first major in three years in the face of injuries, equipment switches and a change of caddie, but believes he has nothing to prove.
“I’ve proven myself enough over the last nine years of my career,” he said. “Obviously I wouldn’t have won as much as I would have liked this year, and there’s been a few components to that, injury-wise, changing equipment and stuff. It has been a bit of a transitional year.”
“I feel like everything’s settled. My health is pretty much where it needs to be. I just want to go out and play my game and hopefully that will be good enough,” he added.
McIlroy said confidence is a powerful factor in golf.
“There’s certain golf courses that you just can see yourself shoot a score on,” he said. “There’s some golf courses you go to that give you that feeling... that’s sort of how it feels here.”
I think once you go back to a place where you do have great memories, all that starts to come flooding back to you and it makes you feel good about yourself. This has been a week I’ve been looking forward to for a long time and I’m glad it’s here and I’m glad I’m showing up for this week feeling like my game is in good shape,” he said.
Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama is another who will be full of confidence at Quail Hollow after he blew away the field with a final round 61 to win the Bridgestone.
After a tie for second at the US Open, and top-15 finishes at the two other majors, Matsuyama is enjoying the kind of form that could see him become the first Japanese man to win a major.