Xander Schauffele wins British Open for second major title of year

Xander Schauffele, who faced questions at the start of the season whether he could win a major, now has two of them with the brand of golf that hasn’t been seen in 90 years.

He won the PGA Championship at Valhalla by making a six-foot birdie putt on the final hole for a 65. In a final round at Royal Troon set up for big drama — six players one shot behind, nine players separated by three shots — Schauffele made a tense Sunday look like a nice walk along the Irish Sea.

“I think winning the first one helped me a lot today on the back nine. I had some feeling of calmness come through. It was very helpful on what has been one of the hardest back nines I’ve ever played in a tournament,” Schauffele said.

“It’s a dream come true to win two majors in one year,” he said. “It took me forever just to win one, and to have two now is something else.”

He is the first player to win two majors with closing rounds of 65 in the same year. Jack Nicklaus is the only other player to do it in his career.

And he never looked more calm, oozing that California chill vibe even as the wind presented so much trouble at Royal Troon. Schauffele said he told caddie and longtime friend Austin Kaiser on the 18th tee that he felt calm.

“He said he was about to puke on the 18th tee,” said Schauffele, who starred at Long Beach State in his freshman year.

There was no need to panic, even when it took Schauffele six holes to make a birdie when everyone around him started strong. He played bogey-free in a chilly wind and pulled away with three birdies in a four-hole stretch early on the back nine to go from two shots behind to leading by as many as three.

Xander Schauffele plays a shot from the rough on the 12th hole during the final round of the British Open on Sunday.

(Jon Super / Associated Press)

He won by two shots over American Billy Horschel and Justin Rose, the 43-year-old from England who had to go through 36-hole qualifying just to get into the field. They were among four players who had at least a share of the lead at one point Sunday.

They just couldn’t keep up with Schauffele. No one could.

Even with so many players in contention early, the engraver was able to get to work early on those 16 letters across the base of the silver claret jug.

Given the wind, heavy air off the Firth of Clyde and punishing nature of the Ayrshire links, Schauffele’s 65 ranks among the great closing rounds in British Open history. Playing in the third-to-last group, he matched the best round of the championship with a score that was just over eight shots better than the field average.

The 30-year-old from San Diego became the first player since Jordan Spieth in 2015 to win his first two majors in the same season. And he extended American dominance on this Scottish links as the seventh Open champion in the last eight visits to Royal Troon.

Rose closed with a 67 and it was only good for second place. Horschel, who started the final round with a one-shot lead in his bid to win his first major, dropped back around the turn and birdied his last three holes for a 68 for his best finish in a major.

“He has a lot of horsepower,” Rose said of Schauffele. “He’s good with a wedge, he’s great with a putter, he hits the ball a long way, obviously his iron play is strong. So 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.”

The player Schauffele had to track down was Thriston Lawrence of South Africa, who birdied three of four holes to end the front nine with a 32.

Schauffele was two shots behind when it all changed so suddenly. Schauffele hit a wedge out of the left rough on the difficult 11th and judged it perfectly to leave it within three feet for a birdie putt. He hit another wedge to within 15 feet for birdie on the 13th, and capped his pivotal run with a 12-foot birdie putt on the par-three 14th.

Lawrence finally dropped a shot on the 12th and didn’t pick up any shots the rest of the day. He closed with a 68 and earned a small consolation — a trip to the Masters next April, his first time to Augusta National.

Scottie Scheffler, who got within one shot of the lead briefly on the front nine, lost his way with a three-putt from six feet for a double bogey on the ninth hole. Scheffler finished his round by topping a tee shot on the 18th and making another double bogey. The world’s No. 1 player closed with a 72 and tied for seventh.

He stuck around to share a hug with Schauffele, the two top players in golf. Schauffele was the only player this year to finish in the top 10 in all four majors.

Schauffele went from the heaviest major trophy at the PGA Championship to the smallest and oldest, the famed claret jug that he will keep for a year.

He finished at nine-under 275 and earned $3.1 million, pushing him over $15 million for the season.

Ferguson is a reporter for the Associated Press.