5/12/25

Winning a major championship is career-defining. It changes how golfers are remembered. Everyone who tees it up this week at Quail Hollow will be eager to try and add their name to the historic list of major champions. Should they win, the golfers below could add to their legacy more than almost anyone else in the field.

Jordan Spieth

It’s easy to forget, but Jordan Spieth is one PGA Championship win away from completing the career grand slam. Spieth is one of two players that has a chance at the career grand slam right now. Phil Mickelson needs a U.S. Open Championship if he wants to complete that feat. Spieth has significantly dropped off in his performance after a blistering start to his career. Spieth has the talent, but he seems to shoot himself in the foot multiple times per round and can’t recover from it. Spieth has a solid track record at the PGA Championship but hasn’t been threatening since the 2019 PGA Championship, when he finished T-3, and even then, he finished six shots back of Brooks Koepka. A major championship win of any kind for Spieth could help revitalize his career. He currently sits 42nd in the FedEx Cup Standings, which puts him outside the top 30 that advance to the TOUR Championship. Spieth missed out on the BMW Championship last year in the FedEx Cup Playoffs, which is disappointing for the three-time major champ.

There were once questions about how many majors Jordan Spieth would end his career with. It felt like a foregone conclusion that Spieth would have five or six majors by 2025. His fall from grace is perplexing, but despite that, he’s still a popular player and well-known by casual sports fans. Like Rory McIlroy at the Masters, an opportunity to complete the career grand slam makes winning a major an even more daunting task. Spieth has had eight previous attempts at capturing the career grand slam, but this year could be different. He admitted recently that watching McIlroy accomplish the rare feat was inspiring. Parlay that with the fact that in the 2022 Presidents Cup, held at Quail Hollow, Spieth went 5-0-0 in the competition. Even though that’s match play, it’s still playing under pressure at the same course they’ll tee it up this week. Spieth won’t be close to one of the favorites, but if he can put it all together for four days, have some good breaks, and avoid the self-inflicted wounds, there could be two players completing the grand slam in the first two majors of 2025.

Scottie Scheffler

Scottie Scheffler is coming off a win in the CJ Cup Byron Nelson, where he butchered TPC Craig Ranch. Scheffler has five starts in the PGA Championship and four top ten finishes, with the other start being a missed cut. Scheffler has been the best player in the world for the last three years, but for his legacy, it’s time for him to start winning majors elsewhere. Perhaps that’s the one knock on Scheffler is that he’s only had success at the Masters, which isn’t a bad place to be successful at. The PGA Championship seems like a perfect match for Scheffler, especially with some of the recent courses that the major championship has been hosted at. Those gettable courses are similar to PGA Tour courses, and with Quail Hollow being a regular PGA Tour stop, this course should fit Scheffler’s eye. Scheffler would also win his third major, should he win the PGA Championship, and that goes a long way. Winning three majors begins the lines of demarcation for legacy. It further legitimizes a career and adds more substance to that player’s legacy (i.e., Jordan Spieth).

He’s still early in his career, but not a lot of people saw Jordan Spieth declining as rapidly as he has. Golf is so fickle, and hell is always lurking, and you never know when it’ll strike. It’s derailed careers and takes even the best players in the world for a ride of misery that can’t always be shaken off. It’s likely Scheffler will be a very successful golfer for a long time. However, players like Jordan Spieth, David Duval, and others know it can evaporate instantly. That’s why it’s important to take advantage of the opportunities when presented with them.

Bryson DeChambeau

Bryson DeChambeau is in a similar spot as Scottie Scheffler. Two major championships, both at the same major, and a golden opportunity to dominate a course that should fit his eye. DeChambeau has been very good at the PGA Championship and might be the only player who’s been more consistent at the PGA than Scheffler over the last five years. Last year, DeChambeau fell one shot short of a playoff, but played spectacular golf. In 2023, DeChambeau couldn’t build off a first-round 66 but still finished T-4. He also finished T-4 at the 2020 PGA Championship, so the opportunities have been there. Also like Scheffler, it would be shocking if DeChambeau ends his career without a PGA Championship and only two major championships to his name. The big bomber can use his brute force to crush Quail Hollow and win in a similar fashion to his 2020 U.S. Open win.

Brooks Koepka

Brooks Koepka could do something not a lot of golfers have done. Win the same major championship four times. Three golfers have won the PGA Championship four times or more. Jack Nicklaus and Walter Hagan won it five times, while Tiger Woods won four PGA Championships. Ten players have won four or more Open Championships, four players have won four U.S. Open’s, and three players have won the Masters four or more times. That feat isn’t as great as the career grand slam, but it’s not too far off. It also would be his second PGA Championship in three years, which would add to the sweetness of winning his fourth PGA. Koepka uses non-major championships as practice for the majors. He knows that no one really cares about wins in events that aren’t majors, Ryder and Presidents Cups, and now the Olympics. Koepka’s legacy already is that he’s one of the best major championship players not just of this generation, but ever. Should he get to six majors, he would match Nick Faldo, Phil Mickelson, and Lee Trevino. Neither of those legends has won the same major championship four times, which in some people’s eyes could separate him from the other three. With how much history golf has, it’s all about adding to history and leaving a lasting legacy. Koepka already has one of the better legacies of this era, and another PGA Championship surely separates him from everyone but Rory McIlroy.

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