'I'm ready to throw my hat in ring' - Jordan Spieth on his career grand slam bid

Jordan Spieth is ready to “throw my hat in the ring” in his bid to become golf’s latest career grand slam winner after fearing a wrist injury would prevent him from even contending ever again.

Five weeks after Rory McIlroy won The Masters to become just the sixth player in the game’s history to complete a full set of the major titles, Spieth has an opportunity to add his name to the list in this week’s 107th PGA Championship at Quail Hollow in North Carolina.

The Texan made his big breakthrough in the 2015 Masters before adding the US Open a couple of months later then winning The Open as well in 2017. His best effort since having a chance of completing the grand slam came when finishing joint-third in the PGA Championship in 2019.

Jordan Spieth speaks with the media prior to the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow Country Club in Charlotte, North Carolina | Andrew Redington/Getty Images

“There's been a number of years I've come to the PGA, and no one's really asked me about it,” said a smiling Spieth of his latest opportunity this week being the first question from the floor at a press conference for the season’s second major.

“It's funny. I think, if Rory didn't, then it wouldn't have been a story line for me here necessarily. I mean, it's always a story line if I work my way in, but at least ahead of time, I just feel like I've been asked about it more than other years, including '22, when I came in after winning and finishing second back-to-back, which I would have thought would be a time where that would have been one.

“So I've kind of been surprised by the dynamic a little bit. But it's always circled on the calendar. For me, if I could only win one tournament for the rest of my life, I'd pick this one for that reason. Obviously watching Rory win after giving it a try for a number of years was inspiring.

“You could tell it was a harder win than most of the time he makes it look a lot easier. So that obviously was on the forefront of his mind. Something like that has not been done by many people, and there's a reason why. But I'd love to throw my hat in the ring and give it a chance come the weekend this week.”

Game has been ‘trending well’

Spieth underwent wrist surgery after his tendon popped out on the 18th in the final round of last year’s 152nd The Open at Royal Troon and was sidelined until earlier this year. He’s made the cut in all but one of 11 events, finishing fourth on two occasions, most recently in the CJ CUP Byron Nelson behind world No 1 Scottie Scheffler.

“I think I've been trending really well,” said the 31-year-old. “I had an off approach week last week. Just made some kind of dumb mistakes that were multiple-shot problems around that kind of old-school course (at The Philadelphia Cricket Club in the Truist Championship).

“But, throwing that out, I feel really good about some of the stuff I've been working on, some of the mechanics and traction of how I'm swinging the club or getting more sound and more consistent. I'm getting more confident in that, feeling like I can play all the ball flights that I'd like to. You need that around this golf course because you've got to work it both ways, different heights.”

On his wrist, Spieth admitted: “It's still there, very much so. But I'm not worried about the same thing happening anymore thanks to the doctors that I've had and their rehab process that I went through. It was a lot of hard work. Last fall and into the winter, physically and mentally, it was one of the hardest things that I've had to do.

Rory McIlroy became just the sixth player to complete golf’s career grand slam after winning The Masters last month | Michael Reaves/Getty Images

“I wasn't able to do much while other guys were getting better. So just a hard, hard process to be patient with, especially for me. It tested every bit of what I could do, and I went by the book.

“By the time I was able to play, I think I played well and was kind of in contention in Phoenix, and I was just like, man, I am just incredibly grateful just to be back out here doing this because there was months where you're going through the process wondering if or when that would happen again.

“I didn't expect this year to be a ridiculous year. It's going to be something that I needed to work slowly towards with a long-term outlook, and I think it's going really well so far. I've got a big stretch and a lot of good opportunities coming up and a lot less distractions on it than I had last year.”