2024 Open takeaways: Royal Troon starred, Xander Schauffele reigned as Justin Rose, Billy Horschel went all in

Scottie Scheffler called it the hardest nine holes he's ever played. Dustin Johnson said it was the hardest nine holes possible. Others referenced not being able to remember the last time they hit driver-3-wood into a hole and came up well short. Royal Troon, with an assist from Mother Nature, delivered about the best full major test imaginable and the best start-to-finish examination we have seen in years at the 2024 Open Championship last week.

Bouncy, firm fairways and greens? Check. Memorable holes marked by distinct features? Absolutely. There were long holes, short holes, tough holes, easy holes. And of course, the variable that makes any major twice as good (or more) than it would be otherwise: wind. Quartering winds, into winds, down winds, confusing winds -- it was a wind festival at Royal Troon. Some hit drives 405 yards, while others needed driver-driver just to get within chipping distance on par 4s.

There is nothing that frustrates professional golfers more than wind. Nothing. It takes their plans and turns them inside out. It confounds and angers. It brings doubt and indecision when the primary objective of all good pros is to eliminate both.

It takes excellent golf courses like Royal Troon and makes them legendary.

The 2023 Open at Royal Liverpool had weather but not loads of wind. St. Andrews and Royal St. George's before that had neither. Royal Portrush had it a bit, but not like this. Royal Troon emerged as one of the most complete tests a major has provided in the last 10 -- perhaps even the last 20 -- years.

Those were not conditions that could be manufactured. Golf's governing bodies can control plenty, but they cannot determine the weather. It's a joy when we get it, though, because the toughest type of golf is not manufactured by silly tee boxes and glassy greens. Difficult "you have to hit all the shots" links golf is simply the best.

"I enjoy hitting little bunt shots," said Billy Horschel, who finished T2. "I get tired of golf where you're making full swings and you lean into a certain number and it stops. I like when you have to be creative and find a way to get around the golf course, and I think I've always done that well for the most part."

I enjoy it, too. Most everyone watching did. And for the first time in a while, The Open was a true, full-fledged Open . It's always weird and wacky and tremendous, but rarely is it exactly what one thinks of when The Open Championship is considered. It was this year, and it was a blast.

Justin Rose's last stand

I have become a sucker for the "aging lion gets one last rip at it" story, and 43-year-old Justin Rose embodied that this week. Every shot felt like a full round, every round a full tournament. He has to be on "empty" emotionally.

Here's the thing: Rose shot the second-best round of the entire round Sunday from the third-to-last group. He played tremendously. Somebody else just played (a lot) better.

"That's the deal I made with myself today to come off with no regrets," Rose said. "Obviously, yeah, I'll have a few more chances, of course, but you know that this is a great opportunity today. You want to walk off the golf course going, 'Yeah, I didn't squander that.' I ran putts at the hole today. I feel like I had opportunities. I felt like I took a lot of them. But I felt super comfortable out there, which the fact that I haven't really been in contention much this year, that gives me a lot of heart."

Rose has not always been the most compelling golfer, but the idea of someone who has been that good for that long finally getting his Open really took hold of me this week.

Rose, Adam Scott, Sergio Garcia -- there's so little major contention time left for three of the greats of the last two decades. And so any time it happens, it's easy to see what's written on their faces.

They know. We know that they know. And it often seems there is more going on than just the golf. There is a reckoning with one's career and age and everything that comes along with it. It was cool to see Rose rise to the occasion given those circumstances. Despite not winning, he can take that away and be proud.

Impressive Billy Ho

Speaking of somebody who should stand proud, Horschel standing up at the hardest major of the year and going for the trophy with everything he had was inspiring stuff.

"I'm disappointed," Horschel said. "I should feel disappointed. I had a chance to win a major. I was in a really good position. I just made a few too many mistakes today when I didn't need to. But we'll look back on this in an hour, I'll be very happy with how I played, I'll be very happy with what I did this week. I did a lot of great things that I can take on to the next few years of majors, and hopefully, one of these will be my time to step through the door and hold one of them."

Horschel shot an 84 at last year's Memorial in the first round and left the day in tears . And now he's out there in the final pairing at an Open? In that weather?

Golf is insane, and you have to be a bit insane to play it at that level. It drives even the most level-headed among us to mania. And while this was a week to marvel at the physical gifts of so many players, it was the mental and emotional tenacity Horschel showed (and has shown over the last 15 months) that impressed just as much as anything.

Shot of the tournament

Scottie Scheffler didn't win, but he did hit an immense ball on the penultimate hole of his final round -- a 238-yard 3-wood into a, what, 2-club (3-club) wind that hit and checked and stopped a couple feet from the pin. This on a hole that played to a 3.3 scoring average in the afternoon wave. Come on. I'll be thinking about that one for a while.

Jon Rahm's return to contention

Rahm was in the middle of his worst major season as a pro and desperately needed something this week at Royal Troon. He found it and posted his first top 40 at a major this year (T7). In doing so, he turned a long offseason of, "What's the deal with Rahm?" into, "OK, it seems like Rahm settled a bit at the end of the year."

He's at the level as a pro where every tournament and every round gets dissected, and that seemed to wear on him throughout the season. I don't know that he is all the way back from that, but it was at least a step in the right direction when everything he did leading up to that had seemed very much the opposite.

Justin Thomas' insane week

Justin Thomas shot seven different nine-hole scores this week, ranging from 31 to 45. Seven!

He led The Open, and then he nearly missed the cut. And then he had the lead in his sights again only to ultimately hit a wide-right ball off the first tee Sunday, settling for T31. It was, as J.T. said weeks go, mostly better than it's been for the last two years. (That says more about the last two years than it does this week.)

Both Thomas and Jordan Spieth, who has more missed cuts (two) than top 10s (one) at majors since the start of 2023, have some work to do if they actually plan to regain the thunder they once maintained coming into these major weeks. It's not there right now, and until they prove it, I'm not sure it should be expected going forward.

Aggregate major champion

One of my favorite silly (but also meaningful) stats of the year is determining the aggregate major champion. Of all the golfers who played all 16 rounds at the majors, who shot the best score? This year, there was a runaway champion.

It's always impressive to get on this list -- notables not on it include Rory McIlroy, Bryson DeChambeau, Ludvig Åberg, Wyndham Clark, Spieth, Rahm and several others -- even more so for Schauffele to win it by that much. It properly highlights the major season he put together, which with four top eights and two wins, was one of the great major seasons of all time .