LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Jordan Spieth knows it’s out there.
A win at this week’s PGA Championship at Valhalla would give him the fourth and final leg to a career grand slam, which just five players in the history of the sport have completed.
“I’m aware,” Spieth said. “It’s just kind of a cool thing if you’re able to hold all four. There’s just not many people in the game that have done that, and you have an opportunity to do things that are very unique in the game of golf.
“That’s what kind of stands out, stands the test of time afterwards, so, yeah, anytime we come to these weeks the idea is to have prep to try to peak for really four times a year, and this is one of them.’’
Max Homa, who’s played the best golf of his life the past couple of years and is a dark horse to win this week, spoke about the effect world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler has had on him.
“It’s just motivating, it’s inspiring,’’ Homa said of Scheffler’s success. “Sometimes it’s pretty cool to see somebody kind of push the limit on what you thought was possible. I did not think you could hit a golf ball this well this long [as he does]. I did not know that was possible.
“We saw it with Tiger [Woods], but I wasn’t around then, and Tiger feels like a mythological creature, especially when you look back on some of those seasons he had from 2000 to 2008 or 2009 or whatever it was. I mean just like absurd golf.
“So to get to see that up close [by Scheffler] and know that that’s a real possibility, I think it’s super-motivating. I feel like it gives you something to work at. You really got to push yourself harder and reach even more for what you thought almost was unrealistic and start to realize that it is realistic, and if you want to win majors and you want to climb that world ranking, you’re going to have to do some special, special stuff.’’
Ludvig Aberg, the 22-year-old rising star from Sweden who was a key figure for the European Ryder Cup team in Italy, is playing this week after withdrawing from last week’s Wells Fargo in Charlotte with a knee injury.
He said his time off was merely precautionary, though he’s wearing a knee brace for the tournament this week.
“The knee’s good,’’ said Aberg, who was in contention at the Masters last month, his first career major. “It was more of a safety concern last week that I didn’t play. I’m consulting with my doctors and I trust them with everything that I have, so it’s not bothering me at all this week, and I look forward to playing.’’
Andy Svoboda might be a familiar name to see for New Yorkers watching the PGA Championship.
Though this is his first appearance in a PGA, the Westchester native played some on the PGA Tour before becoming a teaching pro.
He caddied at Winged Foot at 10 years old and played his college golf at St. John’s.
Svoboda is the head pro at Butler National Golf Club outside of Chicago.
He’s previously qualified for five U.S. Opens and won three times on the Korn Ferry Tour.
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