Paul McGinley has claimed a three-time major winner definitely won’t win the PGA Championship at Valhalla this week.
A stacked field has descended on the Louisville venue for the second major of the year. Scottie Scheffler is the overwhelming favourite, although could face competition from Rory McIlroy and several in-form PGA Tour stars.
Valhalla is being billed as a ball strikers course, with several daunting par-fours set to test the world’s best. Coming in at over 7600 yards, the bigger hitters could really benefit this week.
McGinley, however, has highlighted on player who he believes has no chance of lifting the Wanamaker Trophy on Sunday evening.
Paul McGinley slams Jordan Spieth’s PGA Championship chances
Speaking on Sky Sports’ preview, McGinley has savaged Jordan Spieth’s current performance level.
Three-time major winner Spieth has suggested certain parts of his game are as good as they’ve ever been, something McGinley vehemently disagrees with.
McGinley said: “Jordan is miles off his game. He talks in his press conference about being close, but the stats don’t show that. He is putting nowhere near the standard he used to putt; his driving is average, maybe a bit better, but his iron play is very, very poor.”
On whether Spieth will compete this week, he added: “And we all know the importance of approach play is a key indicator in terms of playing well. Can I see him being a factor around this golf course? Not really. Not with the quality of players that are around the competition.”
Jordan Spieth must produce something special at Valhalla
It’s hard not to agree with McGinley regarding Spieth’s chances at Valhalla.
The course simply isn’t set up for the 30-year-old. He’s not an enormous hitter, and right now, he’s struggling to find consistency with his iron play.
Of course, he’s going to be positive about his chances. He’s hardly going to tell the media that he’s playing badly.
But it’s really hard to envisage him matching the likes of Scheffler and McIlroy this week.
He would need to produce a much-improved tee-to-green performance and rely on his putting returning to the peak of its powers. It feels like there are too many pieces that must fall into place for Spieth this week.
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