This was a magnificent Open Championship at Royal Troon and Xander Schauffele’s magnificent golf made him a thoroughly deserving winner.
I can’t remember a year when there have been so many players in with a chance of winning the Claret Jug in the final round. The conditions tested the field all week but by mid-afternoon on Sunday they had eased, making it a perfect day for golf.
Despite playing beautifully, Schauffele struggled to hole putts on Friday and Saturday. By Sunday, though, he was in complete control and his bogey-free 65 saw him win with some to spare. When a player is performing like that there isn’t much they can’t do with a golf ball.
Justin Rose put in an incredible performance to finish second, two shots behind Schauffele. It would have been some story, given that the Englishman had to go through qualifying just to play in this year’s Open, and he did all he could.
South African Thriston Lawrence also had a great week to finish fourth. He held the lead at one point on Sunday, only to suffer an unfortunate bogey at 12 while Schauffele hit a purple patch on the back nine.
Dan Brown played beautifully and was unlucky not to lead overnight after finishing Saturday with a bogey and double bogey. He and fellow Englishman Matthew Jordan finished in the top 10 so will be back next year.
Shane Lowry put in a great performance as he chased a second Open title, five years after his first. The Irishman had a tough finish to Saturday, however, which left him playing catch-up and he had to settle for sixth place.
There were great finishes from Billy Horschell, who birdied the last three holes to share second with Rose, and Jon Rahm, plus a top-10 for Adam Scott at the age of 44. World No1 Scottie Scheffler had a strange final day, falling out of contention again just as he got close.
But this was all about Schauffele, a player who regular readers will know I have always held in very high esteem. He exudes calm, prepares for every shot the same way, and is an absolute charmer off the course.
The shot of the year, for me anyway, was his second into 18 on the last hole of the US PGA Championship in May. The Californian broke his major duck at Valhalla that week and now, suddenly, he has two.
It has lifted Schauffele up to No2 in the world rankings and he is absolutely a rival to Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm at the very top of the game. He has now set his sights on the Career Grand Slam and there’s no reason why he can’t do it.
His win also means that for the first time since 1982 Americans have won all four men’s majors in a year. That’s pertinent as they look ahead to Bethpage Black next year and their attempt to regain the Ryder Cup.
You also have to say that the squeezed major season, taking place over just four months, lends itself to repeat winners as anybody in form for that period has a chance of doubling up. Sadly, it also means that we now have eight months to wait until the Masters.
But the last word has to be on Schauffele, who now heads to France to defend his Olympic title at Le Golf National. He has no scar tissue from the US thrashing there in 2018 as he wasn’t part of that Ryder Cup team, and you wouldn’t bet against him taking gold again.
Sam Torrance OBE is a former Ryder Cup-winning captain and one of Europe’s most successful golfers. Follow him @torrancesam