Xander Schauffele won the British Open on Sunday for his second major of the year, delivering a masterpiece at Royal Troon with a 6-under 65 to overcome a two-shot deficit and give the Americans a sweep of the majors for the first time since 1982.
Schauffele won the PGA Championship at Valhalla two months ago by making a 6-foot birdie putt on the final hole. In a final round set up for big drama — nine players separated by three shots at the start — Schauffele made it look like a nice walk along the Irish Sea.
He played bogey-free in a strong, chilly wind and pulled away with three birdies in a four-hole stretch early on the back nine to go from two shots behind to leading by as many as three.
He won by two shots over American Billy Horschel and Justin Rose, the 43-year-old from England who had to go through 36-hole qualifying just to get into the field. They were among four players who had at least a share of the lead at one point Sunday.
They just couldn't keep up with Schauffele. No one could.
Given the wind, heavy air off the Firth of Clyde and punishing nature of Royal Troon, Schauffele's 65 ranks among the great closing rounds in British Open history. Playing in the third-to-last group, he matched the round of the championship with a score that was just over eight shots better than the field average.
The 30-year-old from San Diego became the first player since Jordan Spieth in 2015 to win his first two majors in the same season. And he extended American dominance on this Scottish links as the seventh Open champion in the last eight visits to Royal Troon.
Golf
Rose closed with a 67 and it was only good for second place. Horschel, who started the final round with a one-shot lead in his bid to win his first major, dropped back around the turn and birdied his last three holes for a 68 for his best finish in a major.
The player Schauffele had to track down was Thriston Lawrence of South Africa, who birdied three of four holes to end the front nine with a 32.
Get a weekly recap of the latest San Francisco Bay Area housing news. Sign up for NBC Bay Area’s Housing Deconstructed newsletter.
Schauffele was two shots behind when it all changed so suddenly. Schauffele hit a wedge out of the left rough on the difficult 11th and judged it perfectly to 3 feet for birdie. He hit another wedge to 15 feet for birdie on the 13th, and capped his pivotal run with a 12-foot birdie putt on the par-3 14th.
Lawrence finally dropped a shot on the 12th and didn't pick up any shots the rest of the day. He closed with a 68 and earned a small consolation — a trip to the Masters next April, his first time to Augusta National.
Scottie Scheffler, who got within one shot of the lead briefly on the front nine, lost his way with a three-putt from 6 feet for a double bogey on the ninth hole. Scheffler finished his round by topping a tee shot on the 18th and making another double bogey. The world's No. 1 player closed with a 72 and tied for seventh.
Schauffele went from the heaviest major trophy at the PGA Championship to the smallest and oldest, the famed claret jug that he will keep for a year.
He finished at 9-under 275 and earned $3.1 million, pushing him over $15 million for the season.
