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Xander Schauffele claims British Open title for his second major of season
By Cesar Brioso and Steve Gardner, USA TODAY,
9 hours ago
Xander Schauffele surged into the lead with a sizzling stretch of four birdies in six holes and held on to win the 152nd British Open at Royal Troon by two strokes.
Schauffele overtook unheralded South African Thriston Lawrence on the back nine as several players had opportunities to make a run during a wide-open final round. But in the end, Schauffele's steady play and precise iron shots ruled the day as he hit 16 of 18 greens in regulation.
England's Justin Rose took the lead early in the final round and shot a solid 4-under 67 to finish in a tie for second.
Third-round leader Billy Horschel birdied his last three holes to tie Rose at 7-under. Lawrence finished fourth, three shots back.
With Schauffele's triumph earlier in the season at the PGA Championship, combined with Scottie Scheffler's victory at the Masters and Bryson DeChambeau's win at the U.S. Open, American golfers swept the four major championships for the first time since 1982.
Xander Schauffele reacts after making a birdie putt on the No. 16th green during his final round at the British Open at Royal Troon in Scotland on July 21, 2024. Andy Buchanan, AFP via Getty Images
Xander Schauffele accepted the Claret Jug during closing ceremonies at Royal Troon, thanking his family, his team, course officials, the greens crew and the R&A.
"It's been quite a journey," Schauffele said. "I feel very honored hearing your name called with 'Open Champion' right after. It's something I've dreamt of for a very long time."
He also thanked the fans in Scotland for their support.
"You guys have been amazing. You guys have made it feel like a second home for me and I can't wait to come back."
Schauffele will defend his title at the 153rd Open next year at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland.
With his victory, Schauffele becomes only the fourth player this century to win both the PGA and the British Open in the same season, joining Tiger Woods (2000 and 2006), Padraig Harrington (2008) and Rory McIlroy (2014).
Xander Schauffele is threatening to make an extremely competitive British Open into a runaway.
Schauffele extended his lead to three strokes with yet another birdie on the par-5 16th hole, giving him a total of six birdies and no bogeys over his final round.
If his lead holds up over the last two holes, he'll win his second major of the season to go with his victory at the PGA Championship at Valhalla in Lousiville, Kentucky.
For the first time in the 2024 Open Championship, Xander Schauffele has the outright lead.
The PGA champion has been laser-focused on pins all afternoon, hitting his 138-yard approach shot on hole No. 13 to within 16 feet of the hole and sinking the putt for birdie.
Then on the par-3 14th, he put his tee shot inside 13 feet of the hole and nailed his fifth birdie of the round to move two shots ahead of Thriston Lawrence at 8-under for the tournament.
Schauffele's surge to the top was assisted by Lawrence's bogey on the 12th hole. Leading by one shot, the South African missed the green to the right as the ball came to rest up against some television cables. He pitched to within 14 feet but couldn't save par.
Schauffele leads Lawrence by two shots and Justin Rose by three.
Just the third birdie of the entire weekend on the extremely difficult par-4 11th hole has Xander Schauffele within one stroke of the lead.
The 493-yard hole is playing into the wind, but that didn't prevent the reigning PGA champion from hitting one of the best shots of the day on his approach from the left rough. From 172 yards, Schauffele rolled his second shot to within three feet of the hole. He tapped that in to get to 6-under for the tournament, tied for second a shot behind leader Thriston Lawrence.
Thriston Lawrence hits his second shot on the No. 3 hole during the final round of the British Open on July 21, 2024. Jason Cairnduff, Reuters
Thanks to a stellar approach shot on No. 9, uheralded South African Thriston Lawrence carded his fourth birdie of the day to move into sole possession of the lead with nine holes to play.
The 27-year-old Lawrence vaulted into contention with a 6-under 65 on Saturday, and he continued his outstanding play with a 32 on the outward nine to move to 7-under for the tournament, one stroke ahead of Justin Rose.
It's the shortest hole in major championship golf, but it could go a long way toward determining the 2024 Open champion.
The par-3 No. 8 at Royal Troon measures an even 100 yards in Sunday's final round, but it's playing over par for the day.
Justin Rose and Xander Schauffele both put their tee shots within birdie range, but only Rose was able to convert – nailing his 14-footer to move to 6-under for the tournament. Schauffele, bidding to become the first golfer to birdie the Postage Stamp in all four rounds of the Open, just missed his 12 ½-footer to remain at 5-under.
Then, in the final group of the day, co-leaders (along with Rose) Thriston Lawrence flirted with the "Coffin Bunker" but spun his tee shot back to within 13 feet from the hole … while Billy Horschel flew his tee ball to the right of the green and into a bunker.
Horschel hit a brilliant shot out of the sand within three feet of the hole, but stunningly missed his par putt.
Lawrence missed his birdie attempt that would have given him the outright lead. Instead, he heads to No. 9 tied at the top with Rose.
The tournament leader entering Saturday's third round suffered through a disastrous 40 on the back nine and finished with a 6-over 77. But he's regained some of the form that he showed the first two days with a stretch of four birdies in five holes to get back to 4-under for the tournament.
A 14-footer on the par-3 eighth hole known as the the "Postage Stamp" has Lowry just one stroke behind the leaders.
But the birdie he'll look back on most fondly if he makes a final-round charge: a 56-foot bomb on No. 5.
With his second birdie in four holes, Justin Rose finds himself alone atop the leaderboard. An 8-foot birdie on the 608-yard par 5 moved Rose to 5-under for the tournament, one stroke ahead of the field.
As Rose was making his move, the third hole at Royal Troon provided a quick momentum swing for the final group of the day.
Leader Billy Horschel found a fairway bunker on the 372-yard par 4 and had to pitch out to safety. With a 17-footer to save par, Horschel missed to drop into a tie for the lead with Rose.
At the same time, South Africa's Thriston Lawrence hit his approach shot on No. 3 out of the rough to within 12 1/2 feet of the hole. He nailed his putt for birdie to pull even with Horschel at 4-under.
Of course, Lawrence and Horschel now have that same par-5 Rose birdied coming up next.
With Billy Horschel playing in the final group at Royal Troon − and reigning Masters champion Scottie Scheffler and PGA champ Xander Schauffele close behind − an American golfer could win all four of golf's major championships this calendar year. (Bryson DeChambeau won the U.S. Open.)
It's been 42 years since the last American sweep.
For the record, the major winners in 1982 were Craig Stadler (Masters), Tom Watson (U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, British Open at Troon) and Raymond Floyd (PGA at Southern Hills).
Will someone go really low on Sunday and put some pressure on the leaders? With the unpredictable weather at the British Open, there's always a chance a low score in the clubhouse could stand up if conditions take a rapid turn for the worse.
Two-time major champion Jon Rahm could be that player − especially after he birdied the first three holes of his final round. The Spaniard nailed birdie putts of 17 and 24 feet on Nos. 1 and 2, before sticking his approach shot on No. 3 to within four feet. Another one-putt green moved Rahm to 1-under for the championship, just three shots behind leader Billy Horschel.
The forecast for Sunday's final round calls for a chance of a few brief showers from late afternoon with passing showers possible from early evening. Winds will be out of the southwest at 12-15 mph with gusts of 18-24 mph early and easing slightly later in the day.
After going par, par, par on the first hole of the first three rounds, Jordan Spieth opened Sunday's final round with a birdie and went par, birdie, par through the first four holes.
Spieth bogeyed the par-3 fifth hole, he closed out the front nine a par, two birdies and a bogey, 2-under 34 through the first nine holes. He sits at 5-over through 11.
The Open will be broadcast live on NBC, with coverage also on NBC's Peacock streaming service. The tentative broadcast schedule is as follows (all times Eastern):
According to Accuweather , Sunday’s forecast at Royal Troon calls for a morning shower, followed by intervals of clouds and sunshine. Chance of precipitation is 40%. High temperature of 63 degrees.
American Brian Harman claimed his first career major by playing four rounds of consistent, steady golf in the soggy conditions at Royal Liverpool to win the 2023 British Open by six strokes.
With only two career victories on the PGA Tour, Harman entered Sunday's final round with a five-shot lead. He closed with a 1-under 70 as Jon Rahm, Tom Kim, Jason Day and Sepp Straka all tied for second place.
The 152nd British Open tees off at the Royal Troon Golf Club in Troon, Scotland, for the 10th time. Royal Troon first hosted The Open in 1923, when English golfer Arthur Havers defeated American Walter Hagen by one stroke.
Royal Troon went on to host the Open eight more times, most recently in 2016, when Sweden's Henrik Stenson defeated Phil Mickelson by three strokes to win his first and only major title.
Tiger Woods is a three-time winner at The Open, pulling off victories in 2000, 2005 and 2006.
Woods' first appearance at The Open was in 1995, when he finished in a tie for 68th place. He’s only appeared at the tournament once during the past four years, and that was in 2022 when he missed the cut. The last time he made the cut was in 2018 when he finished in a tie for sixth place at Carnoustie in Scotland.
McIlroy first appeared at The Open in 2007, when he finished in 42nd place. McIlroy has finished in the top six, six times in eight tournaments dating back to 2014. He tied for sixth last year at Royal Liverpool.
Masters winner Scottie Scheffler has appeared at The Open three times in his career, with his highest finish coming during his 2021 debut at the event. Scheffler finished in a tie for eighth place that year at Royal St. George’s.
In an interview last weekend with the Times of London, Scottish golfer Colin Montgomerie suggested it might be time for Tiger Woods to retire.
"Aren’t we there? I’d have thought we were past there. There is a time for all sportsmen to say goodbye, but it’s very difficult to tell Tiger it’s time to go," Montgomerie said.
"As a past champion, I'm exempt until I'm 60. Colin's not," Woods said with a knowing smile. "He's not a past champion, so he's not exempt. So he doesn't get the opportunity to make that decision. I do." -- Steve Gardner
If you’re old enough to remember the origins of Tiger Woods, there’s nostalgic pleasure in the idea he can still dunk on Colin Montgomerie today with just as much flair as he did during the 1997 Masters in a third round that changed the course of golf history.
But Montgomerie, in the full context of his comments in the London Times, isn’t wrong either. What exactly is Woods trying to accomplish by still being out there?
Unless he can do something on the course, we might have to admit that Monty had a point.
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