LOUISVILLE, Ky. The last two years have been a struggle for professional golf. One of the era’s most consistent players, Xander Schauffele, knows that feeling.
It’s hard to say that one memorable day can solve all problems – whether for the 30-year-old Californian who won his first major championship on Sunday, or for the divided sport he plays.
But there’s no doubt that both Schauffele and the game delivered at the PGA Championship, with the help of Bryson DeChambeau, in an entertaining finish on one of the game’s biggest stages.
“An unbelievable week,” said Justin Thomas, the Louisville native who finished tied for eighth. “I’m upset it’s over. I had so much fun.”
Schauffele made golf fun again on a course that has a knack for drama.
His fight for a 72-hole birdie at Valhalla – where Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy also scored thrilling final-day victories in previous decades – set the record for scoring at a major championship. He edged DeChambeau by one shot after he also attempted birdie on the 18th hole to briefly tie for the lead.
The victory ended a two-year run of winless contests for Schauffele, the 2021 Olympic gold medalist who climbs to second in the world rankings. Over the past nine weeks, he has held the Saturday lead in two tournaments, only to see Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy snatch it away.
This time, DeChambeau tried to do the same, but failed. The fact that the runner-up was part of the LIV Golf league that revolutionized the sport and left its future in limbo seemed less like a hair-raising controversy and more like an afterthought, given the entertaining show he and Schauffele put on.
“I knew birdies had to be made, so there was some kind of aggression that I knew I needed to face today,” Schauffele said, a nod to the fact that a major-record 15 players entered the final round in double figures. below par.
Schauffele’s final birdie left him at 6-under 65 for the round. He finished at 21 to break the scoring record previously shared by Brooks Koepka (2018 PGA) and Henrik Stenson (2016 British).
The score was low; Getting there was not easy at all.
Twice on the back nine, Schauffele drove straight up the middle, only to come up with a mud-splattered ball that could deflect the next shot off the line.
Twice more in the last nine he had problems involving bunkers:
—On the 17th, his drive hit the top of a hill above a trap, but bounced and rolled back onto the sand. Schauffele had to struggle to save the pair there.
—On the 18th, his drive stopped outside a fairway bunker and Schauffele had to position himself in the bunker and hit a ball above his feet, almost waist high.
“I got there and just laughed,” he said. “I was like, ‘If you want to be a great champion, this is the kind of thing you have to deal with.’”
After sinking his third putt from 6 feet on 18, Schauffele lined up the shot and made the putt. The ball hit the left edge of the cup, spun in the middle and fell. Schauffele raised his hands to the sky.
Warming up for a possible playoff on the driving range, DeChambeau stopped and watched on the big screen. He exited stage left to congratulate the winner.
“I gave it my all,” DeChambeau said. “I tried my best and knew my ‘B’ game would be enough. It’s clear that someone (someone else) played incredibly well.”
So what’s next for golf, its newest champion and the other stars involved in the weekend’s drama?
Schauffele will head to Pinehurst for the US Open, having lost the unofficial title of “Best Player to Never Win a Major.”
“I just needed to shut up and actually do it,” he said when asked if his old ‘title’ bothered him.
DeChambeau says he’s getting closer to calibrating his equipment, which is always a work in progress. He says he was thrilled to fight even with his “B” game. Even in defeat, he was pumping his fists and shouting “Come on!” – a fan favorite that moves the needle on the internet and in the gallery.
“I certainly love doing this and giving the fans everything I can,” he said.
TV ratings, which have been down all year, will be released soon and will provide a measure of how good this week was for golf.
What no one can say is that Valhalla was boring.
From the moment Scheffler took golf off the sports page on Friday morning, when he was arrested for allegedly disobeying a police officer, to the moment Schauffele’s shot rounded the hole and fell for victory, this journey to Kentucky was unlike anything golf has ever seen.
No one loved this more than the new grand champion.
“I know it’s a specialization,” Schaufelle said. “But winning in general is as enjoyable as it can be for me.”
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AP Golf:
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