The harder the shot, the bigger the spotlight, the more Jordan Spieth seems to relish -- and, more importantly, deliver in -- the moment.
His week at Whistling Straits began in earnest with one of those Tuesday Phil Mickelson games. The competition is fierce and the stakes high. Spieth drained a birdie putt on the 18th hole to preserve a 1-up victory for himself and Justin Thomas over Mickelson and Rickie Fowler.
It turns out he was just getting started. Four days later, Spieth has his sights set on a much bigger prize.
The 22-year-old enters the final round of the PGA Championship in position to become just the third player to win three majors in the same season after a 7-under 65 Saturday has him alone in second, just two strokes behind leader Jason Day.
If not for a couple of bad holes in The Open Championship, Spieth would instead be going for the calendar Grand Slam, something only Bobby Jones has achieved and no player in the modern era has done.
Despite his age, Spieth has always had a tremendous sense of history -- as a teenager growing up in Dallas, he read about Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson -- and he has carried a chip on his shoulder ever since coming up short on the final hole at St. Andrews.
That chip isn't about his chance at a Grand Slam having come to an end, as much as it is realizing the missed opportunity to win a major championship. Spieth has carried that same sense of urgency to Whistling Straits, where through 54 holes he has made just two bogeys.
“I realized we don't get to play another event like this until April of next year,” Spieth said. “And that makes you think, wow, there really only are a few of these, and they are precious, and you need to make the most of them.
“When I think of this being the last major of the year, it's a little bit of a sad feeling because I really thoroughly enjoy playing in majors. You want to make the most of it because even though it has been a great year, we've won two this year. At the same time, when you look back on your career years and years from now, you may not remember exactly what happened within a year, but you'll remember how many you've won and how many got away from you. So you look at it as a single major, as a chance to win this major, and in that there's enough fight left in us to finish this one off (Sunday), I believe.”
If he can’t, it won’t be for a lack of comfort. This is the second time this year that Spieth will play in the final pairing of a major on Sunday. The other came at Augusta National, where he became the second-youngest player to win the Masters.
In the other two majors this year, Spieth played in the second-to-last pairing.
He’ll have a familiar playing partner in Day. The two have played together a handful of times this season, including on the final day of last month’s Open Championship, where both men finished an agonizing one stroke out of a playoff.
Should the year’s final major come down to the final hole again, Spieth will carry with him the confidence of having already won two majors (Day has yet to win one) and been in position to win two others, as well as the belief that he can get it done on the toughest part of the property when it matters the most.
Just like earlier in the week, Spieth punctuated his round Saturday with a birdie on the 520-yard, par-4 behemoth 18th. It capped a 30 on the back nine and was his third consecutive red number.
For the week, Dyeabolical -- named after course designer Pete Dye -- has played as the most difficult hole on the course, more than a half-stroke over par and yielding just 22 birdies. Spieth has two of them and has played the hole in under par.
“It's a really hard hole," Spieth said. "I played it well today. Other than that, I've played it pretty average.”
If that's average, average ought to do just fine one more time.
“I just got a nice, fortunate break of holing a bunker shot (Friday)," Spieth continued. "My score shows 2 under, but I was really in trouble (Friday) and stole a couple shots out of that one swing. But it's nice to have some good vibes on that hole, and to see the ball go in.
“And hopefully (Sunday) I can have a chance like today to hit a nice shot in there and have a putt that matters.”