Xander Schauffele Claims Second Major Victory with Final Round 65 at The Open Championship
American Xander Schauffele shot a final round 65 to win the Open Championship by two shots. It is his second major victory and second of the year, which elevates his stature exponentially. To an extent, it almost validates his PGA Championship win in May.
It could not have been a more dichotomous major than Valhalla two months ago where he broke the lowest score to par in a Major Championship. This one was a true grind, and The Open is always successful at identifying the best golfer across 72 holes.
You cannot fake it, and that was especially evident this week, mainly because the brutal weather conditions forced the players to contend with them.
There is no valid argument to oppose the fact that Xander Schauffele was the best golfer this week. None of the other contenders lost the Open, Xander just won it. Plain and simple. It comes across as effortless, but Schauffele’s fluid swing exudes extraordinary power simultaneously.
Defining Moments in Major Championship Victory
Typically, in retrospect in a Major Championship, there is always one shot that defines when the tournament was won. In this case, there were a couple down the stretch Sunday that you could allude to.
But Xander’s second shot into the eleventh was particularly prudent. After marginally evading the gorse down the left, his tee shot found the semi-rough but he drew a good lie. He proceeded to hit his iron shot from around 170 yards to two feet and eight inches. As he sank the birdie putt to reach six-under-par, it seemed like the Championship might be slipping away from the competition. His flawless play had set a high bar, and with such a commanding lead, the others would have to pull off something extraordinary to catch up.
A Stress-Free Finish
From then on, it was stress-free. His longest par putt in the final round was 2 feet 10 inches. It was a mesmerising display of absolute control in every facet. In the end, Xander Schauffele found solace as the solitary vessel atop the leaderboard.
Walking up the 18th to raucous applause from the Scottish fans, Schauffele waited for his caddy, but more importantly, his friend, Austin Kaiser to cherish the moment together. Xander revealed how he and Kaiser shared two bottles of whiskey within their friend group after their win at Valhalla. Who knows what they got up to on Sunday evening in Troon?
The Agony of Second Place
As is the way with professional golf, only one person can win the tournament. As a result, someone has to finish in an agonising second place. In this case, there were two, Justin Rose and 54-hole leader Billy Horschel. Billy-Ho birdied his final three holes for an emotional yet fitting send-off in a week that concluded with what could have been.
The American, who British fans adored for his infatuation with West Ham United, stood on the brink of his maiden Major victory at age 37. His struggles have been well documented in the past but he is a popular figure both inside and outside the ropes. He didn’t do a lot wrong, but a couple of bogeys throughout his final round eliminated any chances of Horschel lifting the Claret Jug.
Justin Rose: A Veteran’s Challenge
43-year-old Justin Rose made his Open debut 26 years ago when he holed out on the 18th at Birkdale as an amateur. He wore a similar burgundy number this time around in 2024 but the superstition was not enough of a leveller to the brilliance of Schauffele as he fell two short.
Rose had the less favourable side of the draw on Thursday and Friday, always a prerequisite to the Open Championship. But the scores of the field in the morning and afternoon waves corroborate the notion that he did have the bad side of the draw. But still, the Englishman battled through the torrid conditions to put himself in contention. On moving day, he lived and died on every swing and every putt, and ground his way to a 73.
He played alongside Schauffele on Sunday, and was, for the most part, his closest competitor, but as Xander birdied the 11th, Rose made an untimely bogey to swing the pendulum further in the American’s favour. This all but ended his chances, making bridging the gap just out of realistic reach. The Ryder Cup veteran was emotive all week long, and expressed his desire to win his second major championship, eleven years after his first. But again, it wasn’t to be. He was outclassed by a younger, extremely well-rounded hitter in Schaufeele who showed no mercy in adhering to the potential fairytale storyline that could have percolated on the Troon links.
The Surprise Package: Thristan Lawrence
Perhaps the surprise package of the week was South African Thristan Lawrence. A four-time winner on the DP World Tour, the 27-year-old catapulted his way into contention on Saturday with a 65. This was in the earlier part of the day before the weather got biblical for the later starters.
But he made the most of the good fortune and found himself in the last group in a Major on the final day. Most thought he would wilter away by the back nine but he went out in 32 and held the lead on his own for some time. But he seemed to run out of steam on the back nine with eight pars and a bogey. Nonetheless, a highly impressive performance from Lawrence with most people probably not having heard of him before the week began.
Thirston Lawrence looks like that crying face TikTok filter pic.twitter.com/1nA6mMujhI
— Chad Coleman (@HashtagChad) July 20, 2024
Shane Lowry: Near Miss at the Postage Stamp
Shane Lowry had the chance to cement himself as a two-time Champion Golfer of the Year and would have returned to Portrush in his home country of Ireland as the defending champion. It looked highly plausible midway through Saturday’s round as he reached eight under. Then he reached the infamous Postage Stamp 8th hole in Round Three and it all fell apart from there.
He made double from the coffin bunker before coming home in 40 to drop back to one-under par overall. It was a minor collapse from the man widely renowned as someone who gets better when the conditions get harder. He fought back again on Sunday but that back nine Saturday ultimately was what lost him this Open. He will certainly be back for Portrush next year, and buoyed by the home support, he might get over the line.
Dan Brown: A Remarkable Journey
Dan Brown is not the author of The Da Vinci Code, but the Yorkshireman who played junior golf with Matt Fitzpatrick. The man who attempted to hide himself smoking on the course on live TV in fear of his parents seeing. The man who was in the last group out on Saturday with Shane Lowry. He revealed his inkling to quit golf a few years ago, but Dan Brown held his own, and then some, this week. Hopefully, a performance he can reiterate and look back on in weeks and years to come. Again, he was another man to fall short, but he played a role in the Open Championship story of 2024. One that won’t be forgotten.
The thing with this Open Chamnp[ionship, like many before, is the variety of the leaderboard. The conditions, the layout, all of it, leave the game up to chance. You can’t overpower Troon. In other majors, all of the big stars rise to the top. In this major, it was the opposite, to an extent. Several big names missed the cut: Rory McIlroy was way off the pace and failed to come to terms with what was required to navigate the treacherous links. Hovland, Fleetwood, Aberg, and Dechambeau all failed to make the weekend. The Open is a completely different test than most weeks on Tour and a stellar test at that.
The Rarity and Beauty of True Links Golf
But it is with sadness that we have to come to terms with the fact that we only get this a couple of times a year. True links golf. The golfing gods favoured the spectators, not the players, this week. But it is a testament to a unique style of golf that dates back to the origins of the sport. It needs to be appreciated and valued more, as the future of the game remains an unpredictable enigma.
Eight months now until the next major, it is almost worse than heartbreak for us avid fans. But let’s enjoy what we have witnessed in what has been a compelling major season. Onto the next!
Photo by Cristina Anne Costello on Unsplash
