‘Quiet’ Schauffele wins British Open and wins second major | National

Xander Schauffele said a “sense of calm” helped him win the British Open on Sunday. The American won his second major just two months after triumphing at the PGA Championship.

The 30-year-old Californian played a flawless, relaxed final with a score of six under par at Royal Troon to escape a crowded leaderboard and win the Claret Jug.

Schauffele finished on nine under par for the championship, two strokes ahead of England’s Justin Rose and Americans Billy Horschel.

Schauffele, who set a major record with a 21-under-par shot in May to win the PGA at Valhalla, is the first player to win two majors in one year since Brooks Koepka in 2018.

His victory on the west coast of Scotland completes the American’s sweep of the sport’s biggest titles in 2024.

“I thought (winning the PGA) would help me and it did. I had a sense of calm, a calmness that I didn’t have when I played the PGA before,” Schauffele said.

“I told my caddie Austin (Kaiser) that I felt pretty calm going into the home straight and he said he almost threw up on the 18th tee.

“I told myself I just have to score and keep going,” added the world number three, who described winning the Open as a “dream come true”.

Schauffele was tied for second place with five other players in the last 18, one stroke behind overnight leader Horschel.

He put in a clean first nine holes in favourable conditions on the links course and reached the turn with a score of two under par for the day, after birdies on the sixth and seventh holes.

However, he really came to life at the start of the inward half, when his nearest challengers – former US Open champion Rose, world number 62 Horschel and South African Thriston Lawrence – began to falter.

Schauffele hit a sublime approach on the tricky 11th hole, putting a tap-in birdie on the line. On the 13th hole, he made a 16-foot birdie putt, bringing him to seven under par with 27-year-old Lawrence.

Moments later, Schauffele was in sole possession of the lead after Lawrence fired his first shot of the day on the 12th.

The American then rolled a 12-footer on the 14th hole to suddenly have a two-stroke lead, which was extended to three after a delicious chip over a bunker on the 16th led to another birdie.

Two final pars secured the championship.

Lawrence, attempting to join a group of prominent South Africans who won the Claret Jug including Gary Player, Ernie Els and Bobby Locke, had a one-stroke lead at the turn.

– Scheffler, Rahm thwarted –

Rose, chasing his second major title and first English Open victory since Nick Faldo in 1992, briefly shared the lead with Lawrence after birdieing three of his first nine holes.

But he bogeyed 12 before birdies on 16 and 18 left him at seven under par.

“He’s an ice-cold opponent and one of the best players in the world. It was hard to keep up with him,” Rose, who is ranked 67th, said of Schauffele.

“I played some of the best golf matches, but it wasn’t enough to win the trophy.”

American Horschel had an inconsistent first ten holes, but made birdies on the last three holes to finish in a tie for second place with Rose.

Lawrence finished in fourth place on his own with a score of six under par, with American Russell Henley one stroke behind him in fifth place.

Ireland’s Shane Lowry, the leader after two rounds, recorded a 68 to finish in sixth place, four under par.

World number one Scottie Scheffler and two-time major champion Jon Rahm both briefly threatened to take a lead in the standings, but eventually finished in a tie for seventh place at one under par, along with South Korea’s Im Sung-jae.

The unknown Englishman Daniel Brown played his first major and posted a round of 74 (three over par), good for a shared tenth place.

Several stars struggled this week due to the harsh weather conditions, the thick, rough surface and the well-placed penalty bunkers.

Rory McIlroy missed the cut, meaning he will have to wait ten years for a fifth major, until 2025. The same applied to US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau, Ludvig Aberg, Wyndham Clark and Viktor Hovland.

Three-time champion Tiger Woods also missed the weekend, posting his worst-ever Open performance with a score of 156 (over 14).

Favourite Robert MacIntyre finished on nine-over-par after failing to repeat the heroics that won him the Scottish Open last week.

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