TROON, Scotland – Having shed the scar tissue of never having won a major with his victory at the PGA Championship in May, Xander Schauffele fired a final-round bogey-free 5-under 66 at Royal Troon Golf Club Sunday to win the 152nd British Open by two shots over Justin Rose and Billy Horschel on Sunday and become the first player since Brooks Koepka in 2018 to win two majors in a season.
“Best round I’ve played,” Schauffele said.
He carded four birdies on the final nine to slam the door on the competition and win his ninth career PGA Tour title with a 72-hole total of 9-under 275.
The 30-year-old San Diego native piled up 12 top-10 finishes and six top-5s in his first 27 major starts without a victory, leading to questions whether he could close. In 2018, Schauffele was tied for the lead heading into the final round of the 2018 Open Championship at Carnoustie Golf Links in Scotland but carded a 2-over 72 in the final round and lost to Italy’s Francesco Molinari by 2.
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This time, Schauffele showed he has the mettle to be a closer. In tricky conditions all week that turned Troon into a survival of the fittest, Schauffele was a model of plodding consistency, shooting rounds of 67-72-69. Conditions turned nastiest on Saturday afternoon with wind whipping and rain falling, but Schauffele managed to card four birdies in his first 10 holes before giving back shots at Nos. 11 and 18 to join a six-way logjam one back in second place.
“Today was a day where you’re one bad shot away from having a nightmare on certain holes,” Schauffele said.
On Sunday, with a brisk southwesterly wind blowing off the Firth of Clyde and gray skies, Schauffele showed great patience, starting with five pars before picking apart Troon with six birdies in his next 10 holes, including on the 11th, 13th, 14th and 16th.
It’s also the first time since 1982 that all four majors were won by Americans and the first time since Tiger Woods won consecutive Opens in 2006-07 that Americans went back-to-back in the Open Championship.
Lawrence, who was 10 strokes back to start the weekend, shot 65 on Saturday, tying for the low round of the week, to play his way into the final group and surged into the lead at 7 under with four more birdies on the front nine. But the birdies dried up for the South African on the back nine and he lost the lead with a bogey at No. 12. The four-time winner on the DP World Tour settled for his best career finish in a major, a solo fourth that earned him a spot in next year’s Masters.
The 43-year-old Rose was attempting to win his second major more than a decade after winning the 2013 U.S. Open. He had to go through final qualifying just to make the field and put up a terrific fight until he made bogey at No. 12. He closed with a birdie at the last and posted 4-under 67.
“I left it all out there,” Rose said. “I’m super proud of how I competed.”
Horschel, the 54-hole leader, pictured himself hoisting the Claret Jug before he went to bed but hit into a pot bunker off the tee at the third, found the sand at the famed Postage Par-3 eighth and short-sided himself at No. 10, leading to bogey each time.
“Ah, Billy, Billy, Billy, you’ve made three mistakes today,” he said to himself aloud as he waited at the 11th tee. “Let’s clean it up.”
He did, signing for 68, but it was too late. His T-2 finish is his best result in 43 majors.
Until this season, Schauffele’s most notable title had been capturing a gold medal at the Olympics held in 2021 in Toyko. In May, he canned a 5-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole to outlast Bryson DeChambeau and win the PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky. Having got the monkey off his back, Schauffele said he carried the belief that he can close out a major and he validated the first title.
“He’s obviously now learning that the winning is easy,” said Rose, who played alongside Schauffele on Sunday. “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. He plays with a freedom, which kind of tells you as a competitor that he’s probably not feeling a ton of the bad stuff. He’s got a lot of runway ahead and a lot of exciting stuff ahead, I’m sure.”
In just a matter of nine weeks, he’s shifted the narrative from can he close to being a borderline Hall of Famer. Now he possesses both the Wanamaker Trophy and the Claret Jug and earned the distinction of Champion Golfer of the Year.