Spieth stymied in bid to advance
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A few days after his 24th birthday, came to the PGA Championship attempting to become the youngest golfer to win each of the four Grand Slam tournaments.
But by the start of Saturday’s third round at Quail Hollow Club his expectations had been lowered.
“My goal was to try to work our way into a backdoor top 10," Spieth said.
The idea persisted after he birdied Nos. 14, 15 and 16 to get to 1-under for the day and into position to have his first sub-par round of the tournament. But he bogeyed 18. “Kind of stinks because it sets me back there,” Spieth said.
“Eighteen is just a ridiculously hard hole today."
So Spieth, with scores of 72-73-71 on the par-71 course, was at 216, 2-over for 54 holes and trying to stay upbeat with recollections of his recent stirring victories at the Travelers in Connecticut and last month at the British Open.
“To not have a chance to win, obviously you’ve fallen short of where you’d like to be," Spieth said.
“I didn’t have it written in a diary when I was young [that] I needed to win a career Grand Slam.
“The goal is to try and win them all.
“And yeah, I have a lot of opportunities.
“The PGA I think is going to be the toughest for me.
“I feel like my game truly suits the other three majors maybe more than the PGA championship."
who is winless in 2017, had his third-straight over-par round, a 2-over 73 on Saturday.
He’s at 217, 4-over for three rounds and outside the top 40.
McIlroy twice won the Wells Fargo event at Quail Hollow, but the course was made considerably more difficult for the PGA.
“The way conditions have been the last three days, I haven’t seen a low score out there for me," McIlroy said.
“After playing practice rounds, I felt there was a decent one out there. But I haven’t driven the ball well enough to give myself chances for birdies."
McIlroy, 28, one of the game’s bombers, was paired with 49-year-old
a former Tour player.
At one hole, McIlroy outdrove Uresti 322 yards to 264.