career Grand Slam

Jordan Spieth at the PGA Championship: One Major Away from Immortality

Posted on by
Golf’s Most Exclusive Club

Six golfers in history have won all four major championships. Gene Sarazen. Ben Hogan. Gary Player. Jack Nicklaus. Tiger Woods. Rory McIlroy. Jordan Spieth has won three of them — and this week at Aronimink Golf Club, he gets his chance to join that list.

Jordan Spieth Chasing Grand Slam

“If I can win one more tournament in my life, it would obviously be this one,” Spieth said ahead of the 108th PGA Championship. The man knows what is at stake. So does everyone else. (PGA Tour)

A Game Trending in the Right Direction

Spieth arrives at Aronimink feeling good about where his game is. He led the field in strokes gained off the tee at last week’s Truist Championship — and at a Donald Ross course where precision from the tee is everything, that is exactly the statistic you want heading into a major week. The greens are undulating, the 180 bunkers demand respect, and the par-threes separate the contenders from the field. Spieth, at his best, is built for all of it.

108th PGA Championship Trophy

“My game has been getting better and better. It’s plenty good to have a chance to win,” he said at his Aronimink press conference. He has had stretches this season where he has led the tour in multiple statistical categories. The pieces are there. Aronimink is the week to put them together. (PGA Championship)

The Course Sets Up Well

Aronimink rewards the things Spieth does best. Past winners at this venue have been defined by elite putting — touch, trajectory, and reading greens under pressure. That is Spieth’s signature. A player who can drive it straight and hole putts when it matters has always had a chance here. Right now, Spieth is doing both. (Golf Digest)

Aronimink 108th PGA Championship

Gary Player — the only man to have won a major at Aronimink, claiming the 1962 PGA Championship on these very fairways — believes Spieth has everything he needs. “Jordan has the talent to return to world number one,” Player said. “He simply needs to reconnect with his fundamentals.” High praise from a nine-time major champion who knows this course better than anyone alive. (Golf Magic)

The Moment, the Narrative, the List

Rory McIlroy completed his own career Grand Slam at Augusta just last month — and Spieth has spoken openly about the inspiration it provided. “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,” he said. That kind of clarity — knowing exactly what you want and exactly how not to chase it — is the mark of a player who has been in big moments before. (Sky Sports)

He has won the Masters. He has won the US Open. He has won The Open Championship. The PGA Championship is the only one left. The narrative is written. The stage is set. Aronimink opens Thursday.

If the golf is pulling you towards a screen this week, we understand entirely. And when you are ready to swap the sofa for a fairway, Tee Times will have your Algarve golf holiday waiting — courses, transfers, and deals included.

Rory McIlroy Wins Laureus Comeback of the Year 2026

Posted on by
Golf’s Greatest Redemption Story Gets the Recognition It Deserves

Rory McIlroy celebrates his Masters 2025 victory, winner of the Laureus World Comeback of the Year award at the 2026 ceremony in Madrid

The “Oscars of Sport” came to Madrid — and golf’s most celebrated comeback took centre stage.

On Monday 20 April 2026, the great and the good of world sport descended on Madrid for the 2026 Laureus World Sports Awards – widely regarded as the “Oscars of Sport.” Among the glittering roster of honourees was a name that needs no introduction to golf fans: Rory McIlroy, who claimed the Laureus World Comeback of the Year award for completing one of sport’s most agonising, and ultimately triumphant, long-distance pursuits.

It was a fitting setting. The ceremony took place in Madrid, the capital of a country with deep roots in world golf, co-hosted by Novak Djokovic and Eileen Gu. The evening balanced emerging talent with legendary figures, and McIlroy’s award drew one of the most emotional responses of the night.

Eleven Years in the Making

To understand why this award resonates so deeply, you have to go back to 2014. That year, a 25-year-old McIlroy won both the Open Championship and the US PGA Championship, moving to within one major — the Masters — of completing the career Grand Slam. It should have been a formality for a player of his brilliance. What followed instead was one of golf’s great unfinished stories: year after year at Augusta, near-miss after near-miss, with the green jacket stubbornly out of reach.

It was McIlroy’s first Major win since the 2014 Open Championship — ending an agonising 11-year wait to secure the Grand Slam. In a tense final round, he lost the lead on several occasions but eventually fought back to beat Justin Rose in a sudden death play-off. In doing so, he became only the sixth man in history to complete golf’s career Grand Slam — joining an exclusive club that includes Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Gary Player, Ben Hogan and Gene Sarazen.

Speaking in a pre-recorded video message at the Laureus ceremony, McIlroy reflected on the journey: “I’ve had my fair share of near-misses at the Masters over the years and those moments are tough at the time, but they’re also the ones that push you on, make you work harder and remind you not to give up.”

A Year That Redefined a Legacy

The Masters victory alone would have been enough to make 2025 one of the most memorable years in McIlroy’s career. But the award recognised far more than one Sunday afternoon in Augusta. McIlroy also played a pivotal role in the European Ryder Cup team’s victory over the USA, winning 3.5 points from 5 matches, and won the AT&T Pro-Am, The Players Championship and the Irish Open. He also secured a fourth consecutive Race to Dubai title and a seventh DP World Tour Order of Merit.

In short, 2025 was not merely a comeback — it was a coronation. McIlroy said: “Completing the career Grand Slam was incredibly emotional. It’s something I’ve been chasing for a long time, and it probably means more because of everything that came before it — the near misses, the setbacks, and the questions along the way.”

A Star-Studded Night in Madrid

McIlroy was not the only standout honouree of the evening. Tennis dominated the individual categories, with Carlos Alcaraz named World Sportsman of the Year and Aryna Sabalenka taking World Sportswoman of the Year. Lando Norris earned the Breakthrough of the Year award after clinching his first Formula One World Championship. Lamine Yamal scooped the inaugural Young Sportsperson of the Year, while Paris Saint-Germain were named Team of the Year. Nadia Comaneci received a Lifetime Achievement Award, marking 50 years since the first perfect 10 in Olympic gymnastics history.

What This Means for Golf

The Laureus awards carry real weight beyond the golf world. They place the sport alongside Formula One, tennis, football and athletics on the global stage, and McIlroy’s win sends a powerful message: that golf produces stories of perseverance, pressure and ultimate triumph every bit as compelling as any other sport.

For fans of golf holidays in Portugal and Spain, there is added resonance. McIlroy has been a regular and beloved figure on the Iberian golf circuit over the years, not least through his wins at the Irish Open and his involvement with the DP World Tour. His continued dominance at the top of the world rankings is good news for the sport everywhere, from Augusta to the Algarve.

A Deserving Champion

The Laureus Comeback of the Year award is determined by the 69 members of the Laureus World Sports Academy — a group of legendary former athletes whose authority on sporting greatness is beyond question. Their vote for McIlroy is a recognition not just of a tournament victory, but of a decade-long lesson in resilience, dedication and the refusal to let doubt win.

Eleven years is a long time to chase a dream. For Rory McIlroy, it was worth every agonising moment — and Madrid was the perfect stage to celebrate it.

Inspired by the world’s best? Start planning your own Iberian golf adventure. Browse golf holidays in Portugal, golf breaks in the Algarve, or explore Spain golf holidays with Tee Times — Europe’s Best Golf Tour Operator 2025.

Posted in News | Spain Golf  ·  April 2026