ST. LOUIS (AP) – The highlight was downright searing when Jordan Spieth arrived at Quail Hallow final summer season, contemporary off a victory at Royal Birkdale that had put him on the precipice of the profession Grand Slam.
He didn’t wilt. Didn’t even wither.
Spieth simply didn’t win, placing collectively 4 consistent-if-unspectacular rounds that left him tied for 28th, nicely behind good buddy Justin Thomas. It was an excellent PGA Championship for a participant that had come to count on greatness or not less than have greatness anticipated of him.
But it additionally meant a whole yr ready for an additional shot on the Slam.
“I think I was probably a little more anxious last year, just because there was a big focus right after winning the Open Championship,” Spieth mentioned Tuesday as thunder boomed and rain pelted Bellerive Country Club, washing out many follow rounds. “I was fresh, in form, going to a place where if I worked up the leaderboard I could create a lot of noise.”
That noise? It’s softened significantly over the last yr, and the highlight that accompanied him to Quail Hallow shines rather less brightly on Spieth in St. Louis.
He’s but to win since Royal Birkdale, the missed cuts changing into too frequent for consolation. He seemed as if he may be turning the nook on the British Open final month when he shot 65 on Saturday to surge into competition, however a birdie-less Sunday and final-round 76 dropped him to the wayside.
He adopted that with three rounds within the 70s on the Bridgestone Invitational final week, leaving him a full 20 pictures off the tempo – and out of doors the highest 20 for the eighth consecutive occasion.
“I’m a little under the radar this year, and I don’t mind it,” Spieth acknowledged, “but at the same time, this tournament will always be circled until hopefully I win it one day.”
The 25-year-old Spieth has solely taken that one crack at becoming a member of Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Tiger Woods in finishing the fashionable Grand Slam. But historical past means that if he doesn’t elevate the Wannamaker Trophy quickly, Spieth may by no means accomplish the feat.
Nicklaus wanted simply three tries after successful the PGA in ‘63 to win his first British Open, and Player likewise wanted three tries after the ‘65 U.S. Open to win his first British.
