Will 24-year-old Jordan Spieth achieve the career Grand Slam by winning the PGA Championship (August 10-13) at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina? Yes. While there will be no shortage of young guns vying for the Wanamaker Trophy such as Rory McIlory, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka and Rickie Fowler to name a few, nobody comes into the last major of the year with more mojo and confidence than Spieth. His comeback from a crash-and-burn round at the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale, was, as Jim Nance would say, “one for the ages”. My gosh, after Spieth’s disastrous first twelve holes, I thought they might start etching Matt Kuchar’s name on to the Claret Jug. Quite possibly, that one miraculous Spieth swing from the driving range next to a couple of equipment trailers, while playing the 13th hole, might have erased all the negative thoughts from blowing a three stroke lead and maybe allowed him, in the big picture, to finally put the 2016 Masters debacle in his rear view mirror. Soon after hoisting the Claret Jug, Spieth said, “This is as much of a high as I’ve ever experienced in my golfing life.” Spieth is rapidly advancing to the rarified air of Nicklaus and Woods. In fact, Spieth and Nicklaus are the only players to win three different majors at the age of 23. The numbers don’t lie, either. On the PGA TOUR, Spieth is No. 1 in scoring average (69.080), No. 2 in greens in regulation (70.58), No. 1 on the Official Money List and No. 1 in the FedEx Cup standings. He’s also tied with his friend Justin Thomas with 8 top ten finishes this season. Arguably, the most impressive number is that Spieth wins 9% of the time, which is absolutely phenomenal when you consider the best players in the world only win around 5% of the time. When you consider Spieth’s momentum, confidence and statistics, he must be considered the consensus favorite to take home the 2017 PGA Championship. Enhancing his chances is an out-of-this-world, clutch short game, amazing prowess on putts over 15 feet and Michael Greller, who many consider to be the best caddie in the game and very experienced in major championships. A win for Spieth would be great for golf. After all of the bad news concerning Tiger’s troubles on and off-the-course, a victory at the PGA Championship to capture the career Grand Slam will give the golf world a huge headline and further enhance Spieth’s status as the face of American golf around the world.
