Jordan Spieth is looking history square in the eye this week at the PGA Championship.
Victory means the Grand Slam at age 24, barely. He turned 24 a few weeks ago. Historic.
Pressure?
“Actually I’m freed up from what I’ve accomplished,” Spieth said, pointing to the three major champions on his resume.
But the re-designed and renovated Quail Hollow is going to be a bear for Spieth, based strictly on the length of some of its golf holes.
The first is a 524-yard par four…..yes, par four. The second is a short 452. Three is 483. Nine is 505.
Coming home, there’s the 16th at 506 yards then the beyond-difficult 18th with that dreaded creek running the entire length of the hole. No where to bail on a 483-yard hole that has broken a lot of hearts over the years. Lee Trevino, perhaps golf’s most accomplished short-hitter, felt that length will be a battle for Spieth.
Form says a bomber will win this week, one reason Rory McIlroy is the pre-tournament favorite based on his track record here. But no one’s looking at the fact that McIlroy was dead-last in proximity from the hole last week at Firestone in the 125-150-yard range. He’ll have a lot of shots in that wheelhouse this week. Add some sub-par putting and you wonder why the short-term investment brokers are so dead-set on Rory?
The one thing Spieth does is find a way to win. He did that at the Open Championship when it looked like it was slipping away from him.
One thing in Spieth’s favor this week are perfect Bermuda greens. “I love Bermuda greens,” Spieth said last week at Firestone, where the greens are not Bermuda.
Finally, his caddie Michael Greller put it best when asked about his man Jordy:
“The guy is fearless.”
That’s how you win three majors at age 23.
