FILE PHOTO: Feb 17, 2022; Pacific Palisades, California, USA; Jordan Spieth hits from the fourth tee during the first round of the Genesis Invitational golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
March 22, 2022
(Reuters) – Jordan Spieth said on Tuesday this year’s PGA Championship at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma, could well be his best opportunity yet to complete the career Grand Slam of golf’s four majors.
Spieth was born in Texas, which borders Oklahoma in the north, and the 28-year-old acknowledged that the May 19-22 PGA Championship’s proximity to home could represent one of his better chances until the major is held in Frisco in 2027.
“I think on paper, yes, just given grass types, winds are more similar to what I’m used to at home, and it’s about as close to home as we get for a PGA, at least until we go to Frisco,” Spieth said at Austin Country Club ahead of this week’s WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play event.
“It’ll be by far the closest PGA I’ve played to home, and the best chances I’ve had are when courses are played with wind and firmer conditions at PGA Championships.”
The 2022 PGA Championship was due to be played at a Donald Trump-owned course in New Jersey but was relocated after the former U.S. President exhorted thousands of his supporters to march on the Capitol as Congress met to certify his presidential election defeat by Joe Biden.
Spieth enjoyed success at the Trump-owned course having won the U.S. Junior boys title there in 2009 but will now have to re-familiarise himself with a Southern Hills layout that might look a little different than when he competed there for the U.S. Amateur Championship in 2009.
“I remember it being way too big of a golf course for me at 14 years old. Hopefully I feel a little differently going back,” said Spieth.
“I don’t remember the holes specifically, but I actually plan on getting out there at some point between now and the tournament so that when I arrive, I don’t have to feel like I have to catch up and learn a lot of the golf course.”
This year’s PGA Championship will be Spieth’s sixth shot at the career Grand Slam after having won the Masters and U.S. Open in 2015 before his British Open victory in 2017.
A triumph at Southern Hills would put Spieth alongside Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods as the only players to complete the career Grand Slam of winning golf’s four major championships.
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Editing by Toby Davis)
