Rory McIlroy lit a fire under Jordan Spieth. 

By winning the Masters, Rory McIlroy became the sixth player to complete the career Grand Slam. Now, a month later, Spieth has a chance to become the seventh if he wins the PGA Championship in two weeks at Quail Hollow. 

The Masters was home to an abundance of heartbreaks for McIlroy, but the Northern Irishman was able to get over the hump of winning the career Grand Slam in his 11th try. Spieth first had a chance to pull off the feat in 2017. Eight years later, maybe he can follow in McIlroy’s footsteps. 

"It’s obviously a very challenging week for him,” Spieth told CBS Sports following his final round at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson. “It was harder than anybody maybe ever trying to win the Masters. To be that far from his most recent major as well, and then to go do it—it was very inspiring.”

Ironically, Spieth first had a chance to win the fourth leg of the Grand Slam in 2017 at Quail Hollow, but he finished T28 just a few weeks after winning the British Open for his third—and most recent—major victory. 

Spieth finished T3 at the 2019 PGA. However, he hasn’t placed in the top 25 at the major since. 

He appears to be in good form, though. 

Spieth dealt with a nagging wrist injury that plagued his 2024 season but that seems to be in the rearview as he has three top 10s in 10 starts this year. 

On Sunday at the Byron Nelson, the Dallas native shot a final-round 62 for his best round on Tour since the second round of the 2021 FedEx St. Jude Championship.

Despite a top-5 finish, he finished his round over 10 strokes back of world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler—another player who inspires Spieth. 

“It’s inspiring what he’s doing,” Spieth said of Scheffler. “It makes me want to work harder and be better, especially after watching him for two days (they were paired in rounds 1 and 2) and just getting my butt kicked. I didn’t play great golf, but even if I did, it would have been hard to be at 18 under in two rounds. 

“I don’t think I’ve ever done that. So just getting your butt kicked right there face to face at this tournament really stinks. So it’s a little icing on the cake, I guess, to finish to backdoor into a top 10 or top 5 or whatever ends up happening.”

If Spieth plays like McIlroy or Scheffler at Quail Hollow, though, there’s a good chance he’ll be holding the Wanamaker Trophy with his name etched on one of the game’s most illustrious lists as a career Grand Slam winner.


This article was originally published on www.si.com as With Another Chance for Career Grand Slam, Jordan Spieth Inspired by Rory McIlroy.

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