Expectations have turned into deliverance for Xander Schauffele, almost as if his discovery of the X-factor has enabled him to move to an elevated level. For, in capturing his second Major of the season, the American’s impressive bogey-free final round of 65 for a total of nine-under-par 275 in this 152nd Open Championship gave him the Claret Jug to add to the Wanamaker Trophy he’d collected as US PGA champion back in May.
The protagonists gathered in perfect links conditions, a strong westerly wind whipping across the sandhills, but thankfully without any of the heavy rain which had turned Saturday’s third round into a brutal examination. Schauffele – shot-by-shot, hole-by-hole – delivered a masterclass, ultimately finishing two shots clear of England’s Justin Rose and his USA compatriot Billy Horschel.
Intriguingly, by coincidence, these two Olympic gold medallists – Rose in Rio in 2016, Schauffele in Tokyo’s delayed 2020 Games – found themselves in the same final-round pairing, but each tasked with playing catch-up on 54-hole leader Horschel and also among a packed sextet of players in that starting, chasing group.
Theirs was a classic seaside challenge, with the wind forcing creative thinking; players and caddies questioned yardages, and second-guessed club selection. We’d the sight of world number one Scottie Scheffler three-putting from six feet, and another time topping a tee-shot into heavy rough.
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There were others, among them, American Sam Burns, who – with an 80, in a homeward run that went from bad to worse with a double-bogey followed by a triple on the 11th and 12th holes – fell into a dark hole never to find the light, while Justin Thomas’s hopes were over almost as soon as he’d begun with a wild drive out-of-bounds over the fence to the right of the first hole.
Schauffele, of all those with their eyes on the grand prize, was the one who stuck most diligently to his task. In doing so, he became a multiple Major champion. The 30year-old from San Diego is the first since Brooks Koepka in 2018 to win two Majors in the same year and the first since Rory McIlroy in 2014 to win the Open and the US PGA in the one season. A move up to a new level, very much.
“I think winning the first one [at Valhalla] helped me a lot today on the back nine. I had some feeling of calmness come through. It was very helpful on what has been one of the hardest back nines I’ve ever played in a tournament. I mean, it’s a dream come true to win two Majors in one year. It took me forever just to win one, and to have two now is something else,” said Schauffele.
When he started with five straight pars, but never demonstrating any emotion or showing any frustration, others had – it seemed – stolen a march, most notably South African Thriston Lawrence with four birdies on that outward run, turning in 32.
Indeed, the trio of Lawrence, Horschel and Rose seemed set to fight it out. Until they had company. Schauffele’s slow but steady start to the round was ignited with back-to-back birdies on the sixth and seventh holes to get into the mix. And once he found momentum he never stopped, continuing his error-free pathway back for home with further birdies on the 11th, 13th, 14th and 16th holes to create daylight and then close the deal.
Losing is hard. Rose admitted to being “gutted” on walking off the course. “There was a critical moment midway through the back nine just momentum-wise where Xander got it going. I hit a couple of really good putts that didn’t fall, and then suddenly that lead stretched. In terms of how I played and the execution of my emotions, my mindset, I left it all out there,” said Rose.
Horschel’s grip on the trophy, one hand on it at the start of the final round, slipped, although he finished with three straight birdies from the 16th to at least join Rose as runner-up. “It’s what’s in my DNA. I’m going to always fight, always going to battle until the end,” said Horschel of those late birdies which ultimately saw him come up second best.
And, just as at the US PGA, Shane Lowry was among those to trail in Schauffele’s slipstream. “I had a great chance of winning this Open, and it’s going to hurt for a few days. But onwards and upwards. Xander just doesn’t really hit many bad shots, does he? I went there two back at the PGA, and I felt like I shot a decent score, and I wasn’t anywhere near him. He’s obviously good when he’s out in front.”
Lowry was the best of the four Irish players who survived the cut, finishing in sixth place. But Pádraig Harrington – who moves on to this week’s Senior Open at Carnoustie – showed that, at 52, he can compete in the Majors with a closing 72 for 288 that left him in tied-22nd.
Tom McKibbin made it two cuts made from two Majors in following up on tied-41st at the US Open with a tied-66th here that will form part of his learning curve going forward.
For Schauffele, the learning curve has taken him to a new level and onwards to the defence of his Olympic title in a couple of weeks.
Where did the final round rank? “At the very tip top,” he responded. “It’s the best round I’ve played.”
Which is what is needed to be the Champion Golfer of the Year.
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