US PGA: Spieth surges toward 'American Slam'

BY BRENDAN JAMES

There have been 15 major championship rounds of golf played thus far in 2015. For each one of those rounds Jordan Spieth has either been at the top of the leaderboard or within the first few names down the list.

Tomorrow, he will start the final round of the 97^th US PGA Championship with just one person in a better position to win the PGA’s huge Wanamaker Trophy. While Jason Day holds a two-stroke advantage in search of his first major title, Spieth can make history by winning this championship.

Jordan Spieth in the birdie zone on the back nine at Whistling Straits. PHOTO: Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images.

A victory will see him join Ben Hogan (1953) and Tiger Woods (2000) as the only players to have won three of the four major championships in one calendar year. Some are already calling it the ‘American Slam’.

And, if he does happen to win, it will be a victory where the foundations were almost certainly laid between the 11^th and 18^th holes on Saturday afternoon.

ALSO: Leaderboard | Spieth’s press conference

After a birdie at the opening hole, Spieth appeared to be treading water on the leaderboard with nine straight pars. At seven under with eight holes left in his third round and the leaders moving into the mid-teens under par, Spieth’s chance of a third major win for the year were looking less and less likely.

Then the 22-year-old Texan clicked into gear, making birdies at six of his final eight holes – including the tough 16^th, 17^th and 18^th holes – to post a seven under 65 to be 13 under, two strokes behind Day and seemingly in the box seat.

"Michael did a great job keeping me in it,” Spieth said of his caddie after his round.

"I was impatient on the front nine. I felt like I was playing some solid golf and I was one under through 10.

“I just wasn't scoring. My score did not reflect the way that I was playing.”

Spieth caught a glimpse of the leaderboard on 18 and knew he had to make his b birdie putt ... and he did. PHOTO: Jamie Squire/Getty Images.

A missed birdie chance on 10 was the last straw for Spieth.

“When that putt missed and I was walking off to 11, I said, ‘all right, it's now or never’ at that point,” he said. “I thought that if I could get to 10 under, if I could get three more, then I would still have a chance.

“And turns out, you do have a chance at 10 under, given the conditions are going to be hard. But 13 is a lot sweeter, so I'll take it.”

Spieth, like Day, had a chance to win The Open at St Andrews nearly a month ago and has been carrying a “chip on his shoulder” ever since.

“It would have been really cool (to win at St Andrews), the history part of it,” Spieth said. “But at the same time when you look back, that's a major that I had control of, that I let slip away, which is the second one that I've done so.

“And so really kind of two and two in those scenarios where I felt like I had a chance to control the outcome of a major and didn't in a couple, did in a couple.

“But bouncing back, I certainly have a little chip on my shoulder this week that I want to get back from those last couple of holes at St. Andrews, but that won't be in my head tomorrow.

Spieth on his way to another birdie on the 13th hole. PHOTO: Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images.

“Tomorrow I will be drawing all the positives that we've done, when we did win, why did we win, what was there, and how are we going to make it happen again.

“Try to get my name on the Wanamaker Trophy, that's about it, that's the only history I'll be thinking of when we step on the first tee is you can hoist that trophy and make it happen.”

And if the rest of Spieth’s 2015 season is reflective of what he’ll product tomorrow, Day is in for a fight. In 15 rounds of major championship golf so far this year, Spieth is 50-under-par, which is just three shots shy of Woods’ incredible 53 under for 16 major rounds during his 2000 winning season.

A 68 or better to round out his PGA campaign will give Spieth the scoring record and, perhaps, the biggest piece of silverware in world golf.