American Xander Schauffele wins PGA Championship and British Open, completing the 2024 season of major championships. The 2024 season of major championships has come to an end, and Xander Schauffele lifted the "claret jug" at Royal Troon in Scotland, winning the second major championship of his career this summer.
Galileo sports will take you to look back at the world No. 2 player and American players Scottie Schauffele and Bryson DeChambeau's championship moments this season.
As usual, with the world's top players teeing off at Augusta National Club's "Magnolia Avenue", the much-anticipated first Grand Slam event of the year - the Masters - kicked off. Not since the great Tiger Woods in his prime has a player been as discussed as Scheffler. As the current world number one, Schaeffler has won two first places and one T2 in recent competitions. Plus the green jacket he already harvested two years ago. Such a record will inevitably not attract the high attention of most forecasters.
Scheffler, who trailed by one shot on the first day, was tied with the leader on the second day and was one shot ahead at the end of 54 holes, but things didn't go well on Sunday. Ludwig Aberg and Colin Morikawa were at 6 under when Schaeffler's Ryder Cup teammate Max Homa birdied the eighth hole. There are four people leading the leaderboard. Scheffler then made three birdies between holes 13 and 16, extending his lead to four strokes. At this time, Morikawa and Aberg made mistakes one after another and suffered double bogeys on the 9th and 10th holes respectively.
Homa also suffered a bogey on No. 12, a par-3 hole. Although Aberg made two consecutive birdies on the 13th and 14th holes, trying to return to the lead. But Scheffler continued to accelerate and finally won the second Masters victory of his career with a total score of 68 (-4) and -11! After winning the championship, Schaeffler said frankly: "It has been a long week and the competition is very difficult. This golf course is very challenging. It is extremely special to be able to wear this green jacket again and take it home. Yes. I'm going home tonight and soaking in this victory.
Although Schaeffler, who won the championship, dominated the headlines, it was also a successful week for Aberg, who finished second in the Masters. The impressive Swedish talent continues to amaze the golf world with his performances. Tommy Fleetwood finished tied for third and had his best career Grand Slam record. Woods made history again, setting a record of 24 consecutive promotions at Augusta National.
Before the PGA Championship, Schauffele was undoubtedly the best player in the world. If there was an award for the second best player, it would probably go to Schauffele. Schauffele finished second twice and had six top-10s in 12 tournaments in 2024, rising to third in the world rankings. In addition, he had 12 top-10s and two runner-up finishes in majors. In 2023, he tied the record for the lowest score in a major with a score of 62 at the U.S. Open. He also scored 62 again on the first day of the competition at Valhalla Golf Club, becoming the first player to score that score twice.
Schauffele's lead was reduced over the next 54 holes, and he eventually entered the final day of the competition as a tie for the lead. When compatriot Bryson DeChambeau shot 64 and finished with a total score of 20 under par, Schauffele was still standing on the 18th tee ready to tee off. After finding an awkward teeing position on the tee, everyone thought the game might go into a playoff. But Schauffele played well on the second shot, completed another smart chip, and made a 6-foot birdie putt to win the game on the closing hole. The total score of 263 strokes, 21 strokes under par, also broke the record for the lowest score in the 72-hole men's golf Grand Slam. After the game, Schauffele said excitedly: "I was actually a little excited after the putt went in, because I haven't won for a while. All week I told myself that as long as I focus, I will succeed. It was really hard to stay focused today, but I tried to focus on what I wanted to achieve all day and play every hole seriously. There were some ups and downs after the transition, but now everything is good again."
Sean Lowry handed in the second 62 strokes of the game on the moving day, and went down in history with Schauffele. Helped him to enter the top ten with Viktor Hovland, Rose, Horschel and McIntyre. DeChambeau's runner-up finish means he has seven top-10 finishes in eight tournaments in 2024. The chance to win is within reach.
DeChambeau has long been considered one of the most mysterious figures in golf, seemingly born to play in big tournaments, but he only finished in the top 10 four times in the first 28 majors between 2015 and 2023. Of course, he won the U.S. Open in 2020. Four years later, with good momentum, DeChambeau won the U.S. Open again. DeChambeau entered the final round with a three-stroke lead at Pinehurst II, but after the turn, McIlroy, who was right behind him, caught three birdies in four holes and once had a two-stroke lead. The Northern Irish player then missed short putts on the 16th and 18th holes and finally finished with 69. This meant that DeChambeau had to maintain par on the last hole, and although his tee shot was not ideal and the ball on the second shot went into the bunker again, he finally handed in 71 strokes and finished the game with a score of 6 under par, one stroke ahead of McIlroy.
After the game, DeChambeau said excitedly: "I can't believe my performance at the end. It may be the best performance of my life. It means a lot to me to be able to successfully overcome this fluctuation and win this prestigious championship. This will be the highlight of my career.
Mathew Pavon of France ranked fifth alone and achieved the best record of his career Grand Slam. And among the top 11, 7 are local players.
Winning a Grand Slam is difficult, and winning more than one Grand Slam in the same season is often an achievement that only a few people in the golf world can achieve. Before the last Grand Slam of the season, the British Open, Brooks Koepka won two Grand Slams in 2018 to achieve this feat. The most recent person to accomplish this feat was McIlroy.
But Schauffele is no stranger to winning in a row. He won three consecutive Grand Slams in the summer of 2022. He won the tournament in the week before the British Open. And before the British Open, he had four PGA Tour events with top 20 results. After shooting 69 in the first round, Schauffele shot 72 in the second round and 69 on the moving day under very difficult conditions, ensuring that he was only one stroke behind the leader in the final round. After the transition, the ownership of the championship was still in suspense, but Schauffele accelerated again, using a wedge to send the ball from the left rough to 3 feet from the hole to get a birdie on the 11th hole; pushing a 16-foot birdie putt on the 13th hole; and pushing a 12-foot birdie putt on the 3-par 14th hole.
After that, he cleverly grabbed the last birdie of the final round on the 16th hole, leading by as many as three strokes at one time, and finally locked the victory in advance with a score of 6 under par (65). After the game, Schauffele said: "The setting of the 18th hole of the venue is really cool. Along the way, you can see the yellow leaderboard, see the enthusiastic fans, and hear the warm applause. It was truly the best experience of my life, I felt a chill as I walked off and I quickly refocused myself because I knew it wasn't over. It was a great feeling to hold the claret jug. It was just a result at the end of the day, but I really believed it was going to happen."
The DP World Tour also had a strong week, with England's Justin Rose and American Billy Horschel tied for second, one shot ahead of South Africa's Terrison Lawrence and two shots ahead of Shane Lowry. Daniel Brown led from the first round and finished in the top ten. His major debut became one of the most talked-about stories of the season.
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