Xander Schauffele can lift that huge weight from his shoulders now that he is a major champion at Valhalla Golf Club.
Having started the final round of the 2024 PGA Championship tied for the lead with Collin Morikawa, Schauffele’s foot didn’t leave the gas as he steamed ahead to a record-breaking total that was just enough to beat the brave and brilliant Bryson DeChambeau by one shot.
His consistency has been rewarded with the Wanamaker trophy. He has made history with the lowest winning mark in major history, but how did it all play out?
Xander Schauffele wins PGA Championship, but how did it happen?
Sahith Theegala landed the first blow of the final round by holing a super putt on the 1st green. He tied Schauffele and Morikawa on 15-under-par. But only for a moment. Schauffele answered this with a huge putt of his own on hole 1, and he took the solo lead on 16-under-par.
Theegala gave one back to the course on the next hole and largely didn’t feature for the rest of the day. Meanwhile, Shane Lowry birdied holes 3 and 4 to reach 15-under-par, around the time Schauffele missed a makeable birdie putt on hole 3. There was nothing but red at this stage of the day as DeChambeau poured one in on the 5th hole to reach 15-under and one shot behind the leader.
Schauffele moved on to 17-under after a routine birdie on the 4th hole, but just before he hit a tame birdie putt on 5, DeChambeau thrilled the crowd with a long-range putt from off the green on hole 6, making birdie to reach 16-under. The excitement of Sunday was ramping up.
On the same hole, Schauffele putted from the same low point by the 6th green, but it came up significantly short and he was staring at bogey. He calmly rolled in his par putt and Schauffele looked like a man of steel. The contenders were lining up behind him though. Hovland nailed a birdie putt on the 7th hole to sit one shot behind Schauffele with DeChambeau and Lowry.
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After a cute bunker shot by the 7th green, Schauffele rattled in a birdie to reach 18-under-par, moments before Morikawa missed a birdie putt of his own. Schauffele now had a two-shot cushion over DeChambeau and Hovland, while Morikawa was three behind and Lowry had fallen four behind with a bogey on the 8th hole.
DeChambeau and Hovland were nipping at Schauffele’s heels as only the back nine remained. They both birdied the 10th hole to reach 17-under-par, but Schauffele crucially birdied the 9th hole to reach 19-under-par, bound to win the race to 20-under which many believed could be the winning score before the event started.
It appeared Hovland’s recent reconnection with his former coach Joe Mayo was paying dividends as he rolled in a lovely birdie on the 12th hole to reach 18-under and just moments later, Schauffele sloppily bogeyed the par-5 10th hole to share the lead with the Norwegian.
And then, Hovland rolled in his sixth birdie in 13 holes to take the lead on 19-under, a remarkable turnaround from a player devoid of confidence in the weeks leading up to this event. But to Schauffele’s credit, he bounced back immediately on the 11th hole with a superb birdie. He and Hovland led by one from DeChambeau who had also just birdied the 13th.
Schauffele’s iron play was holding up well. He sent another dart into the 12th hole which he converted and he was at 20-under in this nip-and-tuck battle. A small lull in the action was broken by DeChambeau making a birdie on the 16th hole and with two holes of his day left, he was six-under for the round but still with work to do one shot behind.
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Hovland missed a golden opportunity for birdie on the 17th hole to tie the lead. Schauffele had a one-shot lead with DeChambeau and Hovland just with the 18th hole par-5 to attack. And attack it DeChambeau did. He reached the semi-rough with a short pitch to the green after two shots and after pitching to makeable birdie distance, he fist-pumped his ball into the hole to tie the lead. Hovland wasn’t able to convert, and he didn’t even make a par after missing the one coming back.
Schauffele needed a birdie to win the PGA Championship. His drive on the final hole stopped next to a bunker. His feet were in the trap, so he was forced to hit a low, hooky shot that finished left and short of the green with what would’ve been a routine chip and putt under normal circumstances.
And he made it look like that too. Schauffele holed his birdie putt to beat DeChambeau, to beat the field in record-breaking fashion. 21-under is the lowest score to par in major history and it is the first time a player has shot 62 at a major and gone on to win that week.
Final leaderboard
-21 X Schauffele
-20 B DeChambeau
-18 V Hovland
-15 T Detry, C Morikawa
-14 J Rose, S Lowry
-14 B Horschel, S Scheffler, J Thomas, B MacIntyre
Xander Schaffuele wins, but what did they all have to say?
Xander Schauffele (-21)
“I think I’d probably be a little bit less of a patient person if that putt didn’t lip in, but I really didn’t want to go into a playoff against Bryson. I’m assuming we probably would have played 18. It would have been a lot of work. I just told myself, this is my opportunity, and just capture it.
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“Actually my mum is back at home in San Diego and my dad is currently in Hawai’i and I was able to call him. I had to hang up pretty quickly because he started to make me cry. He was sitting on the phone bawling. It means so much to have my wife, my brother here. I’ve got close friends, as well, that came down from New York. They make me feel very special, and I’m just happy to win this one for my team.”
Bryson DeChambeau (-20)
“First emotions, proud of Xander for finally getting the job done. I mean, he’s an amazing golfer and a well-deserved major champion now. He’s played well for a long, long time. Played against him as a junior. It’s cool to see him – not only he’s just a great human being, but an unbelievable golfer, and it shows this week. Super happy for him.
“On my side of the coin, disappointing, but, whatever. I played well. Didn’t strike it my best all week. Felt like I had my “B” game pretty much. My putting was A+, my wedging was A+, short game was A+, driving was like B. You know, shot 20-under par in a major championship. Proud of myself for the way I handled adversity. Definitely
disappointing, but one that gives me a lot of momentum for the rest of the majors.
“I said today it was closing time, but it will be closing time hopefully, hopefully over the next couple majors. I got to learn from this and learn a lot about – look, I learned a lot about myself over the last year, and being able to perform at Augusta and being able to perform today shooting 7-under – I’m just rambling, it’s just I’ve got a lot of thoughts in my head going right now.”
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Scottie Scheffler (-13)
“I’m not really quite sure. I think “hectic” would probably be a good description. Overall right now how I’m feeling, I’m fairly tired, definitely a lot more tired than I have been finishing some other tournaments. But I’m proud of today how we went out there and fought.
“I got off to a slow start and I was able to get some momentum and post a good round and give me some good momentum. Yesterday obviously was quite frustrating and a bit of a different day, but overall proud of how I fought this week.
“Was fortunate to be out here competing, doing what I love. Out on the golf course, the support this week that I got from the fans was tremendous. The support I got from the players and caddies and everybody inside the ropes was tremendous. So I’m very grateful to have the community that we have out here on the road and to have their support.”
Bob MacIntyre (-13)
“It was a great week. First time I feel like I’ve really been in a major championship going into a final round. I didn’t quite have my best stuff today, but it was solid in the stuff that I’ve been working on, and more personally and almost emotionally it really worked. I stayed patient, kind of got my reward, and it’s just so pleasing to see that I can stay in the fight and you don’t know what can happen at the end. I got my reward.
Shot of the day
Alejandro Tosti set a very high bar for the shot of the day in the early stage of the final round. Teeing it up on the 13th hole, the Argentinian slammed a driver at the island green instead of aiming for the fairway.
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He found the putting surface and had just under seven feet for his birdie which he converted. An amazing eagle indeed.
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Stat of the day
This statistic, courtesy of the genius Justin Ray, shows just how good the standard was at Valhalla this week…
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Xander Schauffele wins a major for the first time, so can he win more? Could see more Xander Schauffele wins this season? Tell NCG on X!