Sport

Xander Schauffele wins PGA Championship in first major victory of his career

James Brown

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Xander Schauffele can finally take off the albatross around his neck. Schauffele, golf's model of unrewarded consistency, won the PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club on Sunday for the first major victory of his career.

He did it in one of the most memorable ways possible, sinking a six-foot birdie putt on the 18th with the entire crowd watching. After watching the ball circle the hole before finally falling to bring Schauffele to 21 under par, one stroke ahead of Bryson DeChambeau, he threw both arms in the air and let out perhaps the biggest smile of his career.

It was the lowest score in major championship history.

“I actually got a little excited after the putt went in. It's been a while since I won and I kept saying it all week: I needed to stay in my lane. Man, it was hard to stay in my lane today,” Schauffele told CBS after hoisting the Wanamaker Trophy.

Starting the day on a leaderboard packed with top players, Schauffele shared the lead with Collin Morikawa, adding more pressure to put an end to their major problems. Schauffele already failed to win in three final groups this spring. Twenty times he had finished in the top 20 of a major without winning. Each impressive week was also another bittersweet reminder of not being good enough to win the trophy in the end.

But in a low-scoring week, Schauffele opened with a major 62 and finished with a 65 to properly establish himself as one of the best players in golf. He led or co-led after each round.

A 27-foot birdie putt on No. 1 to start the final round seemed to indicate that Schauffele was sending a message to the rest of the field to get him. He had another birdie on No. 4, then birdies on Nos. 7 and 9 to be eliminated in a 31. It still wasn't enough for sixteen to have complete control, with Viktor Hovland also making a run.

Schauffele's bogey on No. 10, his only missed score of the day, could have been the key to his chances of winning a major championship. But the 30-year-old responded with consecutive birdies at the 11th and 12th to reach 20 under par. He stood there, stringing leaves together, and forced DeChambeau to catch him. DeChambeau did so, setting up a thrilling finish.

Schauffele arrived at the 18th, a 573-yard par 5 that played as the easiest hole on the course Sunday, knowing he needed a birdie to win and a par to force a playoff. He had a tough second shot, with his feet in a fairway bunker and a 4-iron stuck in his hands. But he hit it to 34 feet and then took it to the green for the major-winning putt.

“I didn't really want to play a tiebreaker against Bryson. …I told myself this was my chance. Just capture it,” Schauffele said.

Schauffele has been one of the best and most stable players on the circuit for seven consecutive years. He has never finished a season with fewer than 11 top-20 finishes and finished in the top 10 in nine of his first 17 majors. He played on two Ryder Cup teams and only Lee Westwood, Colin Montgomerie and Steve Stricker had spent more weeks in the world top 10 without a major victory.

However, many of those impressive weeks ended far from the actual winner. When he had the opportunity to compete with Hideki Matsuyama at the 2021 Masters, he placed his tee shot at 16 in the water. And many more of the Sundays he finished between fifth and 15th than actually fighting for first place. He won only 2 of 8 tournaments in which he reached the final round with a share of the lead.

But Schauffele has such a complete game that you always knew he would stay in contention week after week. In DataGolf's skills rankings, he is in the top 10 in driving, approach and putting. That's why he has only finished one tournament all season worse than 23rd.

“I think not winning makes you want to win more, as strange as that is,” Schauffele said Thursday. “For me, at least, I react to it, and I want it more and more, and it makes me want to work harder and harder and harder.”

The hope was always that consistency and overall play, over time, would eventually lead to a big win. On Sunday, the odds were in Schauffele's favor. He can join the club.

Required reading

(Photo: Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)

By James Brown

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