Jordan Spieth unsurprised by lukewarm response to Slam hopes - ESPN

The attention starts building weeks, if not months, ahead of the one major keeping Rory McIlroy from the career Grand Slam, the most elite club in golf. It's like that every year, and it doesn't make it any easier when he gets to the Masters.

Jordan Spieth should be able to appreciate the feeling. Except that he really doesn't.

Now that McIlroy missed again at the Masters — his 10th straight attempt at getting the final leg — Spieth is next up with an opportunity to become only the sixth player in history to win all four professional majors.

It feels like an afterthought going into the PGA Championship. But Spieth isn't surprised the attention is not that high, certainly not at the level McIlroy has faced the past decade each time he heads to Augusta National.

One reason is his game, which has not been great. Spieth has gone just over two years since he last won a tournament and has come close only a few times since then. He comes into the PGA Championship having missed the cut in four of his past five tournaments that had a 36-hole cut.

«He's got more accolades,» Spieth said about the Grand Slam hype between him and McIlroy. «He's been a better player over his career. Maybe that creates a little noise. He's been a bit more vocal about it himself, so maybe that makes a little bit more difference.»

Spieth said he "hit the reset button" before The CJ Cup Byron Nelson but missed the cut then finished in a tie for 29th at the Wells Fargo Championship that ended Sunday — and was won by McIlroy.

The big storylines entering the PGA Championship: Scottie Scheffler is trying to extend his dominance with a second straight major; Brooks Koepka is the defending champion and coming off a LIV Golf win in Singapore; Jon Rahm turned in