Steady Xander Schauffele captures Open Championship for second major of season

When Saturday’s rain-and-wind tortured round of the 152nd Open Championship had finally reached its merciful conclusion, Xander Schauffele felt good about his 2-under par 69, which made him one of six players at 3-under and a shot behind 54-hole leader Billy Hoerschel.

In fact, had he not bogeyed the 18th hole Saturday, Schauffele would’ve shared the third-round lead. The reigning PGA Championship winner also had a moment Friday with buddy Tiger Woods, who before departing Royal Troon had shaken Schauffele’s hand and wished him well.

“I know he’s pulling for me,” Schauffele said then.

But he laughed when asked if he’d heard anything more from Woods since. “No,” he said.

“Ýou have to win these things to get a text from him.”

Schauffele might want to check his phone about now.

Powered by a torrid four-birdie back nine, the meat of his best-round-of-the-day 6-under 65, Schauffele surged past a half-dozen contenders, took the lead with a birdie at the par-4 13th hole and never looked back.

Another birdie at the 14th hole pushed his lead to two shots, and his “scary” chip over a deep Royal Troon bunker to set up another birdie at the par-5 16th , followed by two safe pars, clinched his 9-under par 275 and two-shot win over Horschel and Justin Rose.

“I’ve always dreamt of this day,” Schauffele said. “That walk up the 18th (fairway) is the coolest, with the fans and the yellow leaderboard. I had chills, and I had to kind of zap myself back to finish the hole.”

With his second major title of 2024, Schauffele became the first player to win both the PGA and Open crowns in the same year since Rory McIlroy in 2014. He also became the first to earn the first two major victories of his career in the same year since Jordan Spieth (Masters and U.S. Open) in 2015.

He admitted that winning his second major, while “very difficult on one of the hardest tracks we play,” was a bit easier because of his having won the first one in May at Louisville’s Valhalla.

“That helped a lot,” he said. “(Sunday), I had a feeling of calmness.”

It showed, as Schauffele constructed a steady, controlled and bogey-free round while others were tumbling down the leaderboard. “This is at the tip-top — the best round I’ve played,” he said.

That kept Schauffele near the lead, held at various times by Horschel, Rose and South Africa’s Triston Lawrence, who led by two shots after he birdied the ninth hole. But Schauffele birdied the par-4 11th hole, Lawrence bogeyed the 12th to create a tie, and after Schauffele took the lead at 13, no one could overtake the eventual winner.

Rose, 6-under at the turn, stumbled with a bogey at the 12th hole and despite two birdies on his final three holes could never rein in the leader. Horschel also reached 6-under but bogeyed Nos. 8 and 10, then made five straight pars to slip back. After his bogey on 12, Lawrence made pars on his final six holes to finish fourth.

Shane Lowery, the 36-hole leader, also made an early run with four front-nine birdies, but shot even-par on the back nine to finish a shot behind Russell Henley at 5-under.

“I’m disappointed. I should feel disappointed,” he said. “I had a chance to win a major. I was in a really good position. I just didn’t play … I just made a few too many mistakes today when I didn’t need to.”

By contrast, all week, “I limited my mistakes,” Schauffele said. That was true Saturday in “the one really hard round. I managed that better than I thought I could. And I figured out that in links golf, you don’t have to be perfect.”

For Schauffele, considered the best player never to win a major since 2017, 2024 has been a reward for so many near-misses. Those included 13 top-10s, topped by a tie for third in the U.S. Open and a tie for second at the Masters, both in 2019. At the 2018 Open Championship, he was runner-up to Francesco Molinari.

“It’s been quite a journey,” Schauffele said when he received the Open’s iconic claret jug trophy. “I feel very honored. Hearing your name called with ‘Open champion’ right after is something I’ve dreamt of for a very long time.”

The boisterous Scottish fans were, for the most part, hoping for Rose become the first homegrown Open champion in 32 years, since Nick Faldo captured his third Open title in 1992. But the traditional Open roars were there as Schauffele made his triumphant walk up the 18th fairway.

“The fans — you guys have been amazing,” he said. “The fans have pushed me on for a couple of weeks now. You guys have made it feel like a second home for me, and I can’t wait to come back.”

Schauffele planned a family celebration with his wife, parents and an uncle. When asked if he planned a boozy celebration like Robert MacIntyre after his Scottish Open win a week ago, the Champion Golfer of the Year laughed again.

“I’m not much of a drinker, but I’m curious to see what my dad picks to drink” out of the Claret Jug,” he said. “He gets the first one.”

While Dad imbibes, his son might be busy with a bunch of text messages — maybe one in particular.