Xander Schauffele revealed that nerves almost got the better of his caddie as he closed in on his Open Championship win at Royal Troon on Sunday.
Schauffele secured the title of Champion Golfer of The Year with a stellar bogey-free six-under-par 65 in the last round , clinching the championship by two shots at nine-under-par, leaving Justin Rose and Billy Horschel trailing. Despite the high stakes, Schauffele appeared unflappable at Royal Troon on Sunday, nailing four birdies on the back nine to pull ahead of the competition.
While Schauffele remained cool under pressure, his caddie Austin Kaiser was another story, with the American revealing that Kaiser was on the verge of being sick as they approached the end.
READ MORE: Shane Lowry had no issue revealing truth behind famous Rory McIlroy incident
READ MORE: Xander Schauffele shuts down Tiger Woods retirement talk with 'desperate' plea to golf legend
"For some reason I was calm," said the golfer who's on track to become world No. 2. "I felt collected, and I was telling my caddie I felt pretty calm coming down the stretch, and he told me he was about to puke! I told myself to hit it down there like I had all day, and just kept moving along."
In a touching display of camaraderie, Schauffele chose to share the iconic walk down the 18th on Sunday with his caddie, both basking in the warm embrace of the Scottish crowd. When asked why he wanted to share that special moment with Kaiser, he explained: "I mean, Austin, he's one of my best friends, but it's a team thing.
"I'm the one hitting the shots, but at the end of the day, it's a team thing. It's a team environment that I like to have for my team, I guess. I was marching, and I was sitting there, and I was just trying to focus, and I sort of looked up, and I saw yellow leaderboards.
Follow the Mirror US on Google News to stay up to date with all the latest news, sport and entertainment stories.
"In my head, I was like, you're about to have your moment here. No one better to share it than Austin because he deserves it as well."
Victory means Schauffele has now won two of the last three major titles, having claimed the PGA Championship at Valhalla in May.
For some time there were question marks as to whether the American would ever prevail on the major stage, but now attention has turned to completing the career Grand Slam. "Yeah, I mean, before I had any majors, it's something [the Grand Slam] I've always wanted," he said
"I'm one step closer and still have a long way to go. But if you don't see yourself doing it, you're never going to do it. I think winning the first one helped me a lot today on the back nine. I had some feeling of calmness come through."
"It was very helpful on what has been one of the hardest back nines I've eve rplayed in a tournament.I mean, it's a dream come true to win two majors in one year. It took me forever just to win one, and to have two now is something else."
Most Popular
Comments / 0