Solid Saturday lifts Jordan Spieth to the fringe of contention at PGA Championship

Jordan Spieth arrived at the 103rd PGA Championship with an opportunity to complete golf’s career grand slam — one of the game’s rarest achievements.

“It’s not on my mind; it’s not,” he said in a pre-tournament meeting with the media. “I think as we get into the weekend, if I’m able to work my way into contention, I think it’s something that’ll obviously be asked and come up, and it’s something that I certainly want.”

The conversation might be ready to begin.

After rounds of 73 and 75, Spieth zipped around the Ocean Course with a 4-under-par 68 and get back to even-par 216 for the tournament. He finished five shots off the lead before the front-runners started their rounds with different winds increasing their challenge.

He couldn’t help wondering what might have been Saturday.

Citing easier scoring conditions with less wind in the morning, “I had a lot of chances,” he said. “I chipped in on 1 (for par) (and made long par putt on 15, so I can’t really say is should have been a lot lower.

“But it’s a round where I’m walking up the 18th going, ‘Man, this could have been special today.’ ... I had four or five (putts) really with no pace lip out today. I felt like (this was one ) of those really good 6- or 7-under-par rounds that ended up being 4.”

Obviously, he would need the leaders to encounter scoring challenges to have a real opportunity to join those with the career grand slam — Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Ben Hogan, Gary Player and Gene Sarazen.

Given his putting statistics — he made only 96 feet of putts over the first two rounds — the reason he faces an uphill battle in Sunday’s final round is no secret.

“It’s just a stroke thing; I know exactly what it is,” Spieth said. “I’m just trying to trust it on the course, and it’s difficult. It’s a move just like any kind of swing move where it needs some repetition and it needs trust and it needs a couple results, and all of a sudden I’m pouring it in.

“... I think that’s just commitment through the stroke, so yeah, very frustrating through two rounds. Today was a bit better. Yesterday it actually felt good. (Putts) just didn’t go.”

Despite his struggles on the greens, he showed a special Sunday could be possible — if not probable.

With birdies at 2 and 5, he made the turn at 2-under 34, then birdied 10 and 11 to attract attention. His long putt to save par at 15 kept his round going and he birdied the par-5 16th to go 5-under for the day.

Alas, as some many others have, Spieth struggled at the devilish par-3 17. His tee ball sailed left into trouble and led to his only bogey of the day.

“The goal (Sunday) is the same as today,” he said. “I didn’t hit anything except driver off the tees. It’s push the ball as far as you can. If you don’t pull off the shot, you don’t pull off the shot, but it’s the best chance to make birdie.

“That’s my mindset (for Sunday). If I were 4-under and the lead was only 7, things would be different.”

Mickelson scorecard: Who’s leading at the PGA championship?

Top scores at Kiawah Island Ocean Course, through Saturday afternoon. Live PGA championship leaderboard here.

Phil Mickelson ........ —9

Brooks Koepka ........ —5

Hideki Matsuyama ........ —5

Braden Grace ..... —5

Louis Oosthuizen ........ —5

Watch golf today: Saturday Round 3 TV, stream for PGA

On Saturday and Sunday, ESPN+ has live coverage from 8-10 a.m., ESPN is live from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and CBS has the conclusions of the third and fourth rounds from 1-7 p.m. both days — along with live streaming broadcast coverage on the Paramount+ subscription service.

CBS will air additional coverage on CBS Sports Network, CBS Sports HQ and CBSSports.com.

This story was originally published May 22, 2021 at 3:18 PM.