Jordan Spieth: Chasing the Slam That Won’t Come
In July 2017, Jordan Spieth completed a remarkable back-nine comeback to win The Open Championship, becoming the first man since Jack Nicklaus to win three of golf’s four majors before turning 24. He was 23 years old, already a former world number one, and seemed destined to become one of the sport’s defining champions for a generation. Nine years later, he still hasn’t added a fourth major to that collection β and the search for the one leg of the career Grand Slam that’s eluded him has become one of golf’s more compelling ongoing storylines.
The historic 2015 breakthrough
Spieth’s rise to the top of golf was rapid and spectacular. In 2015, he won back-to-back majors at the Masters and the US Open, and came agonisingly close to a calendar Grand Slam with near-misses at both the Open Championship and the PGA Championship that same year. He became the second-youngest world number one in history, behind only Tiger Woods, and by the time he added the 2017 Open at Royal Birkdale β coming from behind to beat Matt Kuchar β he had three legs of the career Grand Slam completed before his 24th birthday, a feat matched by remarkably few players in the sport’s history.
A very public collapse
Not every chapter of Spieth’s story has been triumphant. In 2016, he was in command at the Masters for a second straight year before a disastrous quadruple bogey at the par-3 12th hole on Sunday β part of Augusta National’s famously treacherous Amen Corner β derailed his title defence in agonising, widely replayed fashion. It remains one of the more painful individual holes in modern major championship history, and a moment that’s followed Spieth’s career narrative ever since.
The long wait for major number four
Since that 2017 Open Championship win, Spieth has made ten attempts at the PGA Championship specifically β the one major still missing from his collection β the second-most all-time behind Rory McIlroy’s eleven tries before finally winning it himself. Spieth’s best result across those ten PGA Championship appearances is a tie for third in 2019, when Brooks Koepka dominated the field at Bethpage. In his more recent starts, emerging from a genuine mid-career slump, he hasn’t finished better than 29th at the event.
His broader major record tells a similarly bittersweet story: seven top-four finishes across his first 20 majors, but only four in the 35 since β a meaningful drop-off from the standard he set so young.
The 2018-2020 valley, and a genuine comeback
Spieth went through a well-documented career slump between 2018 and 2020, a genuinely difficult stretch for a three-time major champion still in his mid-twenties. He found his way back to the winner’s circle at the 2021 Open Championship in a tie for third, and won again at the 2022 RBC Heritage, edging Patrick Cantlay in a playoff at Hilton Head β a victory built on the kind of scrambling, bunker-escaping golf that’s become part of his identity as a player, equal parts brilliant and chaotic.
A longer victory drought followed after that 2022 win, stretching nearly four years, before Spieth broke through again at the Valero Texas Open β fittingly, a win for the Texas native in his home state, and his 12th career PGA Tour title.
2026: signs of life, still no win
Spieth’s 2026 season has followed a similar pattern of encouraging signs without a return to the winner’s circle. Recovering from offseason wrist surgery, he posted a tie for 12th at the Masters β his best major result in three years β followed by a tie for 18th at the PGA Championship, his tenth unsuccessful attempt at completing the career Grand Slam. Across 17 starts in the season, he recorded eight top-25 finishes, evidence of a genuine floor under his game even without a signature result to show for it. He’s spoken candidly about his approach to the missing major, suggesting, only half-joking, that the easiest way to finally win it might be to stop trying so hard for it specifically.
What makes his game distinctive
Spieth’s game has never been built on overwhelming length off the tee. His identity as a player is built around an elite short game, inventive scrambling from difficult positions, and a putting touch that, at its best, has been among the most feared on tour β the same skills, notably, that both won him majors early in his career and occasionally abandoned him during his roughest stretches, since a short-game-reliant player has less margin for error when his touch briefly deserts him.
Where his career stands
Jordan Spieth’s career now sits at a genuinely interesting inflection point: a three-time major champion with a Hall of Fame-calibre rΓ©sumΓ© already secured by his mid-twenties, still searching in his thirties for the one achievement β the PGA Championship, and with it the career Grand Slam β that would place him alongside a truly tiny handful of golfers in the sport’s history. Whether that chapter still gets written remains one of golf’s most closely watched open questions.
Quick facts
Full name: Jordan Alexander Spieth | Born: 27 July 1993, Dallas, Texas | Notable: Three-time major champion (2015 Masters, 2015 US Open, 2017 Open Championship), former world No. 1, 13 PGA Tour wins, still chasing the career Grand Slam via the PGA Championship.
Frequently asked questions
How many majors has Jordan Spieth won?
Three β the 2015 Masters, the 2015 US Open, and the 2017 Open Championship.
Has Jordan Spieth won the PGA Championship?
No β it’s the one major missing from his career Grand Slam bid, with a best finish of tied third in 2019 across ten attempts.
What happened to Jordan Spieth at the 2016 Masters?
Leading the tournament, he made a quadruple bogey at the par-3 12th hole on Sunday, a collapse that cost him a second straight green jacket.
When did Jordan Spieth last win on the PGA Tour?
At the Valero Texas Open, ending a title drought of nearly four years and giving him his 12th career PGA Tour victory.
Was Jordan Spieth ever world number one?
Yes β he became the second-youngest player ever to reach the top ranking, behind only Tiger Woods.