TROON, Scotland (AP) — Xander Schauffele won the British Open on Sunday for his second major of the year, delivering a masterpiece at Royal Troon with a 6-under 65 to overcome a two-shot deficit and give the Americans a sweep of the four majors for the first time since 1982.
Schauffele, who faced questions at the start of the season whether he could win a major, now has two of them with the brand of golf that hasn’t been seen in 90 years of the four majors.
He won the PGA Championship at Valhalla by making a 6-foot birdie putt on the final hole for a 65. In a final round at Royal Troon set up for big drama — six players one shot behind, nine players separated by three shots — Schauffele made a tense Sunday look like a nice walk along the Irish Sea.
“I think winning the first one 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,” Schauffele said.
“It’s a dream come true to win two majors in one year,” he said. “It took me forever just to win one, and to have two now is something else.”
He is the first player to win two majors with closing rounds of 65 in the same year. Jack Nicklaus is the only other player to do it in his career.
And he never looked more calm, oozing that cool California vibe even as the wind presented so much trouble at Royal Troon. Schauffele said he told caddie and longtime friend Austin Kaiser on the 18th tee that he felt calm.
“He said he was about to puke on the 18th tee,” Schauffele said.
There was no need to panic, even when it took Schauffele six holes to make a birdie when everyone around him started strong. He played bogey-free in a chilly wind and pulled away with three birdies in a four-hole stretch early on the back nine to go from two shots behind to leading by as many as three.
He won by two shots over American Billy Horschel and Justin Rose, the 43-year-old from England who had to go through 36-hole qualifying just to get into the field. They were among four players who had at least a share of the lead at one point Sunday.
They just couldn’t keep up with Schauffele. No one could.
Even with so many players in contention early, the engraver was able to get to work early on those 16 letters across the base of the silver claret jug.
Given the wind, heavy air off the Firth of Clyde and punishing nature of the Ayrshire links, Schauffele’s 65 ranks among the great closing rounds in British Open history. He left no doubt where it stood in his own career.
“At the very tip-top,” Schauffele said. “Best round I’ve played.”
Playing in the third-to-last group, he matched the round of the championship with a score that was just over eight shots better than the field average.
The 30-year-old from San Diego became the first player since Jordan Spieth in 2015 to win his first two majors in the same season. And he extended American dominance on this Scottish links as the seventh Open champion in the last eight visits to Royal Troon.
Rose closed with a 67 and it was only good for second place. He had a chance to set a record by going the longest time between majors after his 2013 U.S. Open win.
“Gutted when I walked off the course and it hit me hard because I was so strong out there today,” Rose said. “Xander got it going. I hit a couple of really good putts that didn’t fall, and then suddenly that lead stretched. I left it all out there. I’m super proud of how I competed.”
Horschel, who started the final round with a one-shot lead in his bid to win his first major, dropped back around the turn and birdied his last three holes for a 68.
The player Schauffele had to track down was Thriston Lawrence of South Africa, who birdied three of four holes to end the front nine with a 32.
Schauffele was two shots behind when it all changed so suddenly. Schauffele hit a wedge out of the left rough on the difficult 11th and judged it perfectly to 3 feet for birdie. He hit another wedge to 15 feet for birdie on the 13th, and capped his pivotal run with a 12-foot birdie putt on the par-3 14th.
Lawrence finally dropped a shot on the 12th and didn’t pick up any shots the rest of the day. He closed with a 68 and earned a small consolation — a trip to the Masters next April, his first time to Augusta National.
Scottie Scheffler, who got within one shot of the lead briefly on the front nine, lost his way with a three-putt from 6 feet for a double bogey on the ninth hole. Scheffler finished his round by topping a tee shot on the 18th and making another double bogey. The world’s No. 1 player closed with a 72 and tied for seventh.
He stuck around to share a hug with Schauffele, the two top players in golf. Schauffele was the only player this year to finish in the top 10 in all four majors.
Schauffele went from the heaviest major trophy at the PGA Championship to the smallest and oldest, the famed claret jug that he will keep for a year. The only question left was the first drink to be poured from the jug.
Schauffele said he would leave that to his father, Stefan, who missed the PGA Championship but was at Royal Troon along with the whole family.
He finished at 9-under 275 and earned $3.1 million, pushing him over $15 million for the season. The last player to win two majors in a year was Brooks Koepka in 2018.
“He has a lot of horsepower,” Rose said of Schauffele. “He’s good with a wedge, he’s great with a putter, he hits the ball a long way, obviously his iron play is strong. So he’s got a lot of weapons out there. I think probably one of his most unappreciated ones is his mentality. He’s such a calm guy out there.
“I don’t know what he’s feeling, but he certainly makes it look very easy.”
Justin Rose ‘choking back tears’ afterXander Schauffele surges to British Open title
TROON, Scotland (AP) — It felt like a must-have putt for Justin Rose as he tried to keep pace with Xander Schauffele on No. 12 at Royal Troon on Sunday.
Rose kneeled for a closer peek and stepped to the ball. The 21-footer looked good and the crowd was ready to erupt. It caught the left side of the cup, though, and lipped out.
Rose tossed his putter in the air, catching it on the way down. His British Open dream was dented, and Schauffele surged to the title.
Rose’s lone bogey of the day dropped him a shot behind Schauffele and two strokes back of then-leader Thriston Lawrence.
The 43-year-old Englishman — carrying the hopes of the country in search of a champion — never caught up.
“Just a critical moment midway through the back nine just momentum-wise,” he said. “Obviously, Xander got it going. I hit a couple of really good putts that didn’t fall, and then suddenly that lead stretched.”
Schauffele birdied the next two holes to pull away. They both picked up a shot on the 16th, but it was settled by the time Rose birdied the last to card a 4-under 67.
Rose finished tied for second with Billy Horschel on 7-under overall, two shots behind Schauffele.
Rose, the 2013 U.S. Open champion, briefly led by one shot Sunday after his birdie at the par-5 fourth. He had plenty of support from the home fans. There was even a dude braving the Firth of Clyde supporting Rose.
“In terms of how I played and the execution of my emotions today, my mindset, I left it all out there. I’m super proud of how I competed,” he said.
Closing out his weekend with a birdie was about “being a professional,” he said.
“Then I walk 10 steps later, and I’m choking back tears. So that’s the shift. Yeah, just personal, and enjoying 18 with the fans too. I just think it’s such an amazing stage,” he said. “For me, like that’s the best look in golf, those two long grandstands that you walk down and the big yellow leaderboard. That’s what I associate as a magic moment.”
Rose wasn’t considered a favorite coming into the week. In fact, he had dropped out of the top 50 in the world ranking and went through a qualification tournament to earn his spot at the Open, where he also had a share of second place at Carnoustie in 2018 when Francesco Molinari won.
“I’ll have a few more chances, of course, but you know that this is a great opportunity today. You want to walk off the golf course going, ‘yeah, I didn’t squander that,’” he said.
“I ran putts at the hole today. I feel like I had opportunities. I felt like I took a lot of them,” he added. “But I felt super comfortable out there, which the fact that I haven’t really been in contention much this year, that gives me a lot of heart.”
