TROON, Scotland – After breaking the scourge of never winning a major championship with his victory at the PGA Championship in May, Xander Schauffele shot a 6-under 65 in the final round to beat Justin Rose and Billy Horschel by two strokes to win the 152nd British Open on Sunday at Royal Troon Golf Club. Schauffele became the first player to win two majors in the same season since Brooks Koepka in 2018.
“That was my best round ever,” said Schauffele, whose score was two strokes off the best round of the day and one of only two bogey-free rounds in the fourth round.
He recorded four birdies in the final nine holes to outshot his competition with a 72-hole total of 9-under 275 for his ninth career PGA Tour victory.
The 30-year-old San Diego native had 12 top 10s and six top fives in 27 majors but no wins, raising questions about whether he might ever win again. In 2018, Schauffele was tied for the lead going into the final round of the 2018 British Open at Carnoustie Golf Links in Scotland, but shot a 2-over 72 in the final round to lose by two strokes to Italy’s Francesco Molinari.
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This time, Schauffele showed his mettle as a closer. While tough conditions all week made it a survival of the fittest for Troon, Schauffele steadied with shots of 67-72-69. Conditions were at their worst Saturday afternoon with wind and rain, but Schauffele recorded four birdies in the first 10 holes and bounced back on the 11th and 18th holes to join a six-man field for second place, one stroke behind.
“Today was a nightmare for me if I missed one shot on some holes,” Schauffele said.
On Sunday, in the face of strong southwesterly winds blowing off the Firth of Clyde and overcast skies, Schauffele showed impressive perseverance, starting with five pars before reeling off six birdies in 10 holes, including the 11th, 13th, 14th and 16th, to beat Troon.
It is also the first time since 1982 that an American has won all four majors, and the first time an American has won consecutive British Open titles since Tiger Woods in 2006-07.
Ten strokes behind at the start of the weekend, Lawrence shot 65 on Saturday to tie the lowest score of the week and enter the final group, then four more birdies in the first nine holes to move into the lead at seven under par. But the birdies dried up for the South African over the final nine holes and he lost the lead with a bogey on the 12th hole. The four-time DP World Tour winner is now in sole fourth place, the best major championship finish of his career, and has qualified for next year’s Masters.
The 43-year-old Rose was seeking his second major championship, more than a decade after winning the U.S. Open in 2013. Having to go through a final qualifying round to qualify, he played well before bogeying the 12th hole. He birdied the final hole to finish with a four-under 67.
“I gave it my all,” Rose said. “I’m really proud of the way I fought.”
Horschel, who led after 54 holes, envisioned himself hoisting the Claret Jug before going to bed, but he hit his tee shot into a pot bunker on the third hole, hit the sand on the famed par-3 eighth hole at Postage and was short on the 10th hole, finishing with bogeys on each hole.
“Oh, Billy, Billy, Billy, I made three mistakes today,” he said aloud to himself as he waited on the 11th tee. “Let’s fix them.”
He signed with a 68, but it was too late; his tied-second finish was his best result in 43 major championships.
Until this season, Schauffele’s most notable title was winning the gold medal at the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021. In May, he made a 5-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole to beat Bryson DeChambeau and win the PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky. With a burden lifted, Schauffele said he remained confident he could close out a major championship, and his first victory proved that.
“He’s obviously learning that winning is easy,” said Rose, who played alongside Schauffele on Sunday. “He’s got a lot of weapons. I think probably one of the most underappreciated weapons is his mentality. He’s a very calm guy. I don’t know what he’s feeling, but it certainly looks very easy. He plays with freedom and you can tell as a competitor that he’s probably not feeling too bad about it. I’m sure he still has a lot left in him and a lot of exciting things ahead of him.”
In just nine weeks, he has gone from being viewed as a Hall of Famer to being viewed as on his way to becoming one: He has now won both the Wanamaker Trophy and the Claret Jug, as well as the title of Golfer of the Year.