TROON, Scotland. – American Xander Schauffele emerged from a tightly-bunched leaderboard to win the 152nd British Open with a supreme blemish-free final-round 65 at Royal Troon on Sunday.
Beginning the day among a group of players one stroke behind leader Billy Horschel, unflappable world number three Schauffele was in total control as he produced an immaculate display to finish on nine-under 275.
When Schauffele tapped in for par on the 18th green the Claret Jug was his, even if South Africa’s Thriston Lawrence, who had earlier led the tournament, was still to finish his round.
Justin Rose, bidding to become the first Englishman to win the Open since Nick Faldo in 1992, was left to ponder what might have been as he finished two shots back in tied second place having barely put a foot wrong over the weekend.
American Horschel birdied the 18th to join Rose on seven under and Lawrence was fourth on six under with another American Russell Henley fifth on five under and Ireland’s 2019 Open champion Shane Lowry sixth on four under.
The 30-year-old Schauffele had not won a major until dominating this year’s PGA Championship in May when he finished on a record 21-under-par to edge out Bryson DeChambeau.
He took his new-found swagger to the Ayrshire coast, however, to claim the Open in commanding fashion.
Precision golf meant he hit 16 of 18 greens in regulation and he hit nine of 14 fairways.
“Hearing your name called ‘Open champion’ after it is something I’ve dreamt of for a very long time,” Schauffele said after being presented with the Claret Jug.
That’s a balance to be found between a perfect security, which is absolutely the priority.
And there is no discussion. There has never been any discussion about putting at risk a security model. So, the base is how we can guarantee the security for the spectators and for
Schauffele’s victory means the last seven majors have all been won by Americans and for the first time since 1982 Americans have swept all four majors in a season.
After the wild weather on Saturday had left 24 players within six shots of the lead, the year’s final major looked set for a nerve-jangling climax.
Midway through the afternoon that seemed likely, but Schauffele was simply too accurate off the tee, on the fairways and the greens, making six birdies and not a single bogey in a masterful exhibition of links golf.
When a dialled-in Rose birdied the second and fourth to move to the top of the leaderboard hopes of a British winner were soaring. Schauffele, however, made his move with consecutive birdies at the sixth and seventh to share the lead.
Lawrence briefly led on seven under after an exquisite approach and birdie on the ninth while Rose bogeyed the 12th–only his fifth dropped shot of the entire championship.
