LONG ISLAND, New York – Emotions boiled over last April at the Masters when Rory McIlroy finally broke his 11-year drought in the majors to win at Augusta National and become only the sixth man to complete the career Grand Slam by adding that title to his wins at The Open, U.S. Open and the PGA. When the last putt fell, McIlroy dropped to his knees, buried his face in his hands and wept openly.
McIlroy joined an elite group that includes Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Ben Hogan and Gene Sarazen. It took 25 years from when Woods became the fifth to win the career Grand Slam to expand that exclusive club with the addition of McIlroy.
But it’s possible the seventh member could be added just over a month later if Jordan Spieth continues the resurgence of his game with a victory in the PGA Championship that begins Thursday at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, N.C. When McIlroy recently suggested that possibility, Spieth joked that it would be a tough feat to accomplish at the “Country Club of Rory McIlroy.”
Spieth was referring to the fact that McIlroy is a four-time winner of the PGA Tour event held annually at Quail Hollow, including a victory just last year after previous wins in 2021, 2015 and 2010. McIlroy has averaged 69.48 strokes during that time period over the par-71 layout that now measures 7,626 yards.
Asked in a pre-tournament news conference if he feels pressure to completed the career Grand Slam, Spieth frankly admitted, “It’s certainly at this point the elephant in the room for me. It’s a goal of mine. If you just told me I was going to win one tournament the rest of my life, I’d say I want to win this one.”
Spieth has three top-10 finishes this season, including solo fourth two weeks ago at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson Classic, where he shot a final-round 62. But his track record at Quail Hollow, where his best finish is T28 in 2017, suggests the career Grand Slam will remain out of reach for Spieth, who is listed at long odds of +6000. He is only my fifth choice to win this week.
In my book, the bigger story is McIlroy’s attempt to become the first man to win the modern Grand Slam in one season. The only one to hold all four major titles at the same time is Woods, but that feat is known as the “Tiger Slam” because he won the final three majors in 2000 and then added the 2001 Masters.
This has been a spectacular season for McIlroy, who won the ATT Pro-Am at Pebble Beach and the Tournament Players Championship, which is known as “the fifth major” as a prelude to his Masters triumph that I successfully predicted.
As a result, he is a narrow favorite at +425 odds just ahead of World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler at +450. Scheffler is my second choice after recently winning the Byron Nelson tournament with a PGA record-tying 31 under par score, and he has a total of six top-10 finishes in nine events this season.
My third choice is defending PGA champion Xander Schauffele, who has four straight top-20 finishes and has second-place finishes at Quail Hollow the past two seasons. Fourth choice is Justin Thomas, who recently broke his victory drought with a win at the RBC Heritage Classic. He has six top-10 finishes this season, including three seconds.
The rest of my top-10 picks include Max Homa, who recorded wins at Quail Hollow in 2022 and 2019 and an eighth-place finish last season. Seventh is Sepp Straka, who has won twice this season and had a T8 last year at Quail. Eighth is LIV star Bryson DeChambeau who had top-10 finishes at Quail in 2021 and 2018, and the final two are Tommy Fleetwood and Corey Conners, both of whom were top-25 at Quail last year and top-10 in 2023.
It should be an exciting week, but by winning the Masters, McIlroy just might have set himself up for a thrilling pursuit of the calendar year Grand Slam. Good luck to everyone.
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