Sometimes you win a major by outplaying the field, as Scottie Scheffler did at this year’s Masters. Sometimes you win a major by taking on a rival, as Xander Schauffele did at the PGA and Bryson DeChambeau did at the U.S. Open. And sometimes you win a major by simply hanging in there, waiting for the right moment — and then launching into orbit.
In a week when Scotland was pushed to the limit at Royal Troon Golf Club – three-way wind, sideways rain, mist and cold – Schauffele outlasted the elements and 158 other rivals to win the British Open. A shot behind at the start of the day, Schauffele shot a final-round 65 to finish on 9 under, two shots ahead of Justin Rose and Billy Horschel.
Twelve players entered Sunday’s match within four shots of the lead. At one point, 10 players were within two shots of the lead. Four players held the solo lead for at least some time on Sunday. But Royal Troon defeated them all, one after another, and only Schauffele could score a low putt. He made six birdies in 11 holes halfway through his round, turning a three-shot deficit into a three-shot lead and practically etching his name in the Claret Jug long before Saturday’s leaders could see the clubhouse.
By adding the Troon win to his Valhalla triumph, Schauffele joins a select group. He is the first player since Brooks Koepka in 2018 to win two majors in one year. Only three other players since 2000 have won both the PGA Championship and the Open Championship: Tiger Woods (2000 and 2006), Padraig Harrington (2008) and Rory McIlroy (2014).
Schauffele, the reigning Olympic gold medalist, now heads to Paris as part of the Team USA golf contingent and could put the finishing touches on one of the most remarkable golf seasons in recent memory. The rest of the field will be left wondering what went wrong and what could have been had the Scottish weather been a little more forgiving.
Royal Troon seems to exist outside the era of modern golfThe town surrounding the club is microscopic. A commuter train passes right next to a hole, so close and so loud that players often have to step away from their shots as it speeds past. The Atlantic Ocean draws attention and the wind blows in unpredictable directions. Royal Troon demands your full attention and perhaps that is why most of the pre-tournament discussion focused on the Open itself, not the numerous issues surrounding golf’s murky future.
Golf ends another major season with no solution to its current problems, but on the field, all four majors have offered fascinating storylines over the past four months. Scheffler established his dominance in the game with a second Masters win in April, then found himself in surprising, if brief, trouble with the law at the PGA Championship. Schauffele held off DeChambeau to win that PGA and claim his first career major; DeChambeau turned around and outlasted McIlroy at the U.S. Open a month later in one of the greatest finishes in recent major history. In terms of pure competitiveness, the Open Championship topped them all, with the lead changing hands again and again throughout the week and especially on Sunday … until Schauffele decided to take control of the tournament and walk away from the field.
The problems started from Thursday’s jumpas the opening draw was marred by rain and wind. That meant the two heroes of last month’s US Open, DeChambeau and McIlroy, saw their scores soar. DeChambeau was seeking validation of his new role at the forefront of the golf world, McIlroy was seeking redemption after his collapse at Pinehurst, but Troon isn’t much for narratives, and both meekly exited the tournament after two days.
Also gone early: Tiger Woods, who once again failed to make the cut at a major. Woods hasn’t finished a weekend at a major outside of Augusta since 2020. This time, though, Woods at least acknowledged that he plans to play majors again next year. Between injuries, surgeries and a lack of tournament reps, Woods simply doesn’t have the form to compete at this level, but that’s not stopping him from making the cut.
Dan Brown, who had never played a single round in a major before Thursday, ended the afternoon as the surprise leader, putting the finishing touches on a round of -6 after 9 p.m. local time to claim the lead over Shane Lowry by one stroke. Justin Thomas, the only real survivor of the morning wave, opened with a round of -3, while seven players were at -2.
Friday was Lowry’s day, whose beautiful 69 gave him a two-stroke lead over the rest of the field heading into the weekend. Friday was also the day of the wind, which blew at more than 30 miles per hour and dashed the hopes of most of the unfortunate afternoon waves. Five of the world’s top 10 missed the cut as a result of the poor conditions.
Lowry took a three-stroke lead early in the third round, getting to -8, but his easy march to another Claret Jug lasted 7 ½ holes Saturday. In torrential rain, Lowry double-bogeyed the 8th hole at Postage Stamp and then trashed the entry nine to fall down the leaderboard. Thriston Lawrence and Sam Burns, playing in the milder half of the morning, posted low numbers early that held up. Rose and Brown kept pace, and a pair of 2024 major winners, Scheffler and Schauffele, lurked not far behind on the leaderboard. Billy Horschel, who has two top-10s in 10-plus years of major competition, held the lead by one stroke at -4 late Saturday.
A staggering total of 12 players started on Sunday He was four shots off the lead, and the first few holes narrowed it even further. Jon Rahm, who has struggled mightily in majors this year, began a comeback that was too little and too late with three birdies to open his round. He got within two shots of the lead, but ran out of holes and gas.
Of the night’s contenders, Thomas was the first of the day to exit the tournament, triple-bogeying the first hole to drop to 3-plus. Brown’s dream week ended early, when he failed to get out of a greenside bunker on the fourth hole. Burns bogeyed the third and fourth holes to exit the conversation. Scheffler got within a shot of the lead… and then his putter betrayed him once again, as he double-bogeyed the ninth hole.
The back nine proved to be favorable territory for a handful of players. Rose, Horschel, Lawrence and Schauffele shared the lead at the start of Sunday. Lowry found his game again, overcame an early bogey and made four birdies in five holes to get back to within a shot of the lead.
Lawrence closed the first nine holes and took a one-shot lead, birdieing the ninth to get to -7. Rose was a shot behind at -6, with Schauffele and Horschel at -5 and Russell Henley at -4. The stage was set, then, for one of the most dramatic horse races to the finish in recent major history – if Schauffele hadn’t been on fire, that is.
Horschel was the first of the front-nine leaders to start to lose steam. A double bogey at the 10th left him at -4, three shots off the lead. Schauffele birdied the treacherous 11th to get within a shot, and minutes later, Rose gave one back to the rest of the field, making a bogey at the 12th and falling to -5.
Schauffele, who has played exceptionally well in the three majors preceding Royal Troon (finishing 8th, 1st, T7), began to apply pressure on the opening nine holes. His birdie at No. 11 was followed by another at No. 13 to tie for the lead, and when Lawrence bogeyed No. 12 right behind him, Schauffele had the lead with five holes to go. He birdied No. 14 to extend his lead to two shots, and another at No. 16 to extend the advantage to three and seal the tournament.
