Jordan Spieth believes his game is primed to challenge for PGA Championship victory, but insists his pressure to complete the career Grand Slam is different to what Rory McIlroy faced.
McIlroy became just the sixth male to win all four major titles with his dramatic play-off victory at The Masters last April, securing the Green Jacket in his 17th appearance at Augusta National and 11 years on from completing the third leg of the Grand Slam.
Spieth won The Masters and US Open in 2015 before securing The Open in 2017, with this year's PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club - live from Thursday on Your Site Golf - his 10th opportunity to claim the elusive missing major required to join golf's Grand Slam club.
"My situation was certainly different than his [McIlroy's] at Augusta, so I think that was unique to him," Spieth insisted. "You probably didn't see that kind of reaction with the other guys that have ever done it.
"Rory's was obviously a very unique final round and his history of having led there [2011, when he blew a four-shot lead on the final day] and stuff like that, so I don't think it would feel similar.
"I went on a run of feeling like I was contending or having a good chance of contending at every major for a number of years and then it was periodic, and I feel like I'm close to being able to go back to doing that again. So I just want to give myself a chance."
Spieth finished runner-up to Jason Day at the PGA Championship in 2015, the year he finished no worse than fourth in all four majors, but his share of third in the 2019 contest is his only other top-10 finish at the event since.
The former world No 1 has dropped outside the world's top 50 after failing to register a worldwide top-10 so far in 2026, arriving at Pennsylvania after a share of 52nd at last week's Truist Championship, although he insists he can challenge to claim a first PGA Tour win since 2022.
"If I can win one more tournament in my life, it would obviously be this one for that reason [Grand Slam]," Spieth explained. "But the easiest way to do that is to not try to, in a weird way.
"Just go out and get ready for the first hole, get a good game plan in and attack it the way it needs to be attacked. My game has been getting better and better. It's plenty good to have a chance to win."
Should Spieth fall short in his bid to claim the missing major required, world No 1 Scottie Scheffler can become the seventh golfer to the sport's most exclusive club by winning the US Open this summer.
Scheffler just needs to win at Shinnecock Hills - where the final round takes place on his 30th birthday - to have won all four majors and complete golfing greatness, having already outshone McIlroy to dominate the top of the men's game in recent seasons.
He claimed a maiden major victory at The Masters in 2022 and reclaimed his title two years later, while dominant wins at the PGA Championship and The Open last season left him primed to be the next Grand Slammer.
"Since Rory accomplished that [Grand Slam], it's on the front of everybody's mind," Scheffler said after winning The Open at Royal Portrush last July. "It's for sure a career achievement but I don't focus too much on that stuff."
There's no guarantee there will be instant Grand Slam success for Scheffler, given Spieth and McIlroy's past struggles, with Lee Trevino, Arnold Palmer, Tom Watson, Sam Snead, Byron Nelson and Raymond Floyd all previous players to retire one major away from completing the set.
Phil Mickelson is another who just requires the US Open - an event he has finished runner-up at six times, although has missed the cut four years running and is not listed in the field for this year's contest.
Rahm claimed a maiden major title at the 2021 US Open and won The Masters two years later, meaning a victory in Pennsylvania this week would give him the chance to complete the Grand Slam at The Open later this summer.
The former world No 1 claimed a share of eighth last year, his third top-eight finish at the PGA Championship, with Rahm briefly sharing the lead during the final round until he played the final three holes in five over.
"I would love to do it [the Grand Slam] - obviously it's not easy," Rahm said ahead of last year's PGA Championship. "I think obviously it would be a lot more on my mind if I were to win a third different one, kind of like Jordan [Spieth] has been able to do.
"Right now, if I ever had a thought, I'll focus more on quantity of majors rather than which ones. Let's say I never achieve it, I'd rather have a situation like Sir Nick Faldo - where he has six of two of them - instead of having maybe three different ones, if that makes sense.
"If you get all four of them and if you won each one once, I think it's so significant that you might take that over six. But as in right now, I'd rather just think more about number three, and if it happens to be The Open or the PGA [Championship], then I'll focus on a possible Grand Slam."
Johnson is another with the opportunity to move three quarters of the way towards the Grand Slam this week, having won the 2016 US Open and the 2020 Masters, but has only registered two top-20 finishes in majors since joining the LIV Golf League in the summer of 2022.
The American has missed the cut in three of his last five PGA Championship appearances, including last year, although posted back-to-back runner-up finishes in 2019 and 2020.
Collin Morikawa has finished no worse than tied-25th in his last five US Open appearances and been inside the top 20 the last six years at The Masters, including a share of third in 2014, having already won the PGA Championship (2020) and The Open (2021).
"If it [the Grand Slam] doesn't creep in [to your mind], then you really don't care," Morikawa said at The Masters in 2025. "For me, you care so you want to put yourself in these positions. It doesn't always work out, but it's definitely something you want to try and accomplish."
Xander Schauffele has also won the same two majors as Morikawa, lifting both the PGA Championship and The Open in 2024, with the American already having 13 other career top-10s across The Masters and The Open.
"Before I had any Majors, it [the Grand Slam] was something I've always wanted," Schauffele said after winning the Claret Jug. "I'm one step closer and still have a long way to go. But if you don't see yourself doing it, you're never going to do it."
Brooks Koepka had the most men's major victories in the last 20 years until McIlroy's back-to-back Masters wins surpassed his tally, with the former world No 1 having three PGA Championship wins (2018, 2019 and 2023) alongside his successive US Open titles in 2017 and 2018.
Koepka has failed to register a major top-10 since winning the Wanamaker Trophy for a third time at Oak Hill, although - like Johnson and Rahm - could move within one title of the Grand Slam should he manage to win The Open at Royal Birkdale this July.
Bryson DeChambeau is a two-time US Open champion and has back-to-back runner-up finishes in the last two editions of the PGA Championship. If he could go one better this week, he would parachute himself into the conversation as a potential future Grand Slam contender.
There was a 25-year gap between McIlroy joining Tiger Woods in the Grand Slam club. Many players in this week's PGA Championship field will be looking to ensure the wait for the seventh member doesn't take as long.
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