Jordan Spieth: How real is his quest for a modern Grand Slam?
Spieth is prepared for the Open
I have spent many hours wrapping my head around the fact that Jordan Spieth is all of 21 years old. The young American has joined the elite league of golf through his adventures this season in Augusta and then at Chambers Bay. Admittedly, there have been younger people who have baffled the world with their feats, but rarely have we seen such a young man excel on the undulating fields of golf.
Spieth plays golf for a living and it isn’t the kind of endeavor that lends itself easily to people that are wet behind the years. Yet, during this Open week, the only topic of real interest to anyone remotely associated with golf is whether the precociously talented youngster can fly back to America with the Claret Jug for company.
"To go to the Home of Golf in the next tournament is the sole focus, I am not going to look beyond that," said Spieth, immediately after edging past Dustin Johnson for the US Open title.
"But I guess you can't win them all unless you win the first two,” admitting in a way, that it was impossible not to think of the Grand Slam.“We will go to St Andrews looking to win the Claret Jug. I believe we will be able to get the job done if we get the right prep in.”
Has the much needed momentum
On Monday last week, there weren’t many people who agreed with Spieth about what constituted “right prep.” Much to the surprise of the golfing world, Spieth chose to play the John Deere Classic before he could fly out to Scotland.
After a sedate 71 in the first round, the chorus of wisdom grew louder. And then Spieth responded as only he might have – shooting 64 and 61 in the second and third rounds to shoot straight to the top of the heap. Eventually, he needed a playoff to clinch the title. And suddenly, he had everyone speak about momentum and positive vibe going into the most important event on the golfing calendar.
Looking to emulate greats
Parkland golf is miles apart from the links game and Spieth will have his task cut out with just about two days available for him to taste the links and tune his game. Right now, the odds are rather generous for a Spieth Grand Slam. At 25/1 it does seem like a rather tempting bet, but rarely have men been able to crack the Major code through an entire season.
The last man to have successfully held all four titles was Tiger Woods. He won the US Open, The Open and the PGA Championship in 2000 before completing the “Tiger Slam” the next year by winning the Masters.
Spieth is looking to go one up on his prolific senior by clinching the four big titles in a season. First of all though, he has the arduous task of winning at St. Andrews this week. It is perhaps the most revered patch of land in all of golf and will only add to the pressures surrounding Spieth this week.
Despite his superb form, it will take a mighty effort from the young American to master the hallowed links in Scotland. The conditions tend to swing wildly around the seaside course – with the wind and weed combining to make playing as difficult as can be.
A place in history is at stake
"It's one of my favourite places in the world," said Spieth about a course he visited in 2011. "I remember walking around the R&A clubhouse and seeing paintings of royalty playing golf, and it was dated 1460-something.”
“I'm thinking, our country was discovered in 1492 and they were playing golf here before anyone even knew that the Americas existed. And that really amazed me and helped me realise exactly how special that place is."
Spieth is the youngest winner of the US Open since 1923 and youngest two-time Major champion since Gene Sarazen in 1922. On Sunday, if he can lay his hands on the Claret Jug, he will join Ben Hogan (1953) and Woods as the only men to have three Majors in a season.
The fact that he could usurp the top ranking from Rory McIlroy this week will be lost in a footnote if he wins on Sunday. Almost everything else will be sunk in an avalanche of Grand Slam hymns, if that were indeed to happen.