Xander Schauffele finally claimed his maiden major at the PGA Championship at Valhalla. The American birdied the 72nd hole to outlast Bryson DeChambeau by one and beat the all-time major scoring record, finishing 21-under.
Ahead from Start to Finish
It was a wire-to-wire victory for Schauffele who began the week with another major record. He shot 62 to tie the lowest-ever round in a major. From the opening tee shot on Thursday, he was at the top of the leaderboard. And despite being hunted down by some big names, he deservedly got over the line. There was much talk of the course being too easy for the best players in the World in Kentucky with Xander making 25 birdies across all four rounds.
Xander Gets Rid of the Major Burden
Ostesnily the best golfer in the world recently not named Scottie Scheffler, Xander’s major win had always eluded him. It led the golfing media to question his ability to perform in the spotlight. This was accentuated last week at the Wells Faro where he was chased down by Rory McIlroy. Schauffele ended up coming second despite leading going into the final round. But he certainly would have traded that for a win a week later. And that is what he got. It makes him more interesting as a golfer, now that he has managed to get over that hump, and we will now see whether he can push on.
Bryson’s Entertainment Value
The tournament produced an exciting finish, with Dechambeau the closest competitor the eventual winner, but he came up just short. Bryson, amid his YouTube stardom, has been a contender in three of the last four majors. A testament to his game, despite his move to LIV. He even associated his newfound maturity and perspective with his recent content excursions.
Hovland Back Near his Best?
It was also a rebound week for Viktor Hovland who has been notably off the boil since his Tour Championship rout last autumn. He even contemplated withdrawing from the PGA at the start of the week because of how bad his game feels. However good job he stuck it out, as it turned into a promising week. He can and should, now build on to try and get back to his best.
Scottie’s Midweek Arrest
There will be no grand slam for Scottie this year, but his T7 finish was still to be admired. The unequivocal World Number One had an eventful week, after being arrested first thing on Friday morning when heading to the course. The full details are still unknown, but Scheffler was charged with assault, a felony, and was taken to a local jail. It was an astounding story that the golf world woke up to Friday, and was hardly believable.
He even started doing warmup stretches for his round in his cell. Later that day on Friday, after the round was suspended so he could get to the course for his tee time, he shot 66 which couldn’t be a bigger indictment of who Scottie is. Fans were seen with T-shirts with his mugshot on just hours after the arrest was made, and it was a whirlwind day for Scheffler.
The chaos was compounded with his caddie Ted Scott not on his bag on the weekend whilst he attended his daughter’s high school graduation. This seemed to play a part, as well as the reduction of Friday’s adrenaline, to his third round 73. It was his first round over par this season, which demonstrates how surgical he had been up to that point. A Sunday 65 resulted in a top-ten finish, but Scheffler, the weeks after the birth of his first child, will want to put it behind him as he looks ahead to Colonial this week.
Rory’s Surprise Divorce
That wasn’t the only hot news of the week, with Rory McIlroy announcing on Monday that he is filing for divorce. This shocked the golf landscape, but Rory understandably declined to comment on the topic all week. Erica, his wife of seven years, gave birth to their daughter Poppy only three years ago, and this will have an impact on Rory and his future both on and off the course.
The Northern Irishman, off the back of two wins, had a mediocre week back at the place he won in 2014. He finished in a tie for 12th, with Friday’s level par 71 being the round that left him with too much work to do on a low-scoring week.
Pinehurst Looms Large
The U.S. Open is the next major on the agenda in just under a month, which will take place at Pinehurst no. 2. It promises to be another enthralling tournament, and will likely produce another deserving champion.
Image Credit: Deposit Photos
