On Sunday at Royal Troon Golf Club, Xander Schauffele produced a 65 to claim a two-shot victory at the 2024 Open Championship.
Schauffele’s final round was highlighted by four birdies in a six-hole stretch on the back nine (Nos. 11, 13, 14, and 16) to reach 9 under.
“After I birdied 14, I was able to hit the fairway, and there’s a big board right there on 15 by the green,” said Schauffele. “I was sitting there kind of peeking at it.
“I was looking at the boards all day. I’ve tried it in the past where I haven’t done it, but at Valhalla I was looking at them all day, and I really wanted to embrace it.
“That’s what I did there, so I told myself to do the same thing here. Really just look at it and embrace it and take it for what it is and move on.
“I looked up at the board there, and I knew, if I could birdie 16 — I birdied 7 today — or 6, sorry. That was the first par-5 I birdied all week. I was like, if I can birdie my second par-5 of the week on 16, that would be special.
“Then as soon as I hit the green on 17, I had to really try and focus really hard to not let my mind wander too much.”
Schauffele finished his final day in Scotland with no bogeys against six birdies, including a pair of back-to-backs on Nos. 6, 7, 13 and 14.
For his ninth career PGA Tour title, and second major, Schauffele earned $3,100,000 and 750 FedExCup points, which cemented his poisition as No. 2 (behind Scottie Scheffler) in both money and points. He also picked up 100 world ranking points to further lock in his spot at No. 2.
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Pro-File: Xander Schauffele
Name: Alexander Victor Schauffele
Nationality: American
Height: 5’10”
Weight: 175
Birthdate: Oct 25, 1993 (age 30)
Native: San Diego, CA
Resides: Las Vegas, NV
College: San Diego State
Turned Pro: 2015
PGA Tour Rookie: 2017
Best Masters: T2 (2019)
Best PGA: 1st (2024)
Best Open: 1st (2024)
Best U.S. Open: T2 (2018)
Equipment: Callaway
Leaderboard: 2024 OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP
Top-10 Finishers
Pos-Player-To Par (Rd 4 Score)
1. Xander Schauffele -9 (-6)
2. Justin Rose -7 (-4)
2. Billy Horschel -7 (-3)
4. Thirston Lawrence -6 (-3)
5. Russell Henley -5 (-2)
6. Shane Lowry -4 (-3)
7. Jon Rahm -1 (-3)
7. Sungjae Im -1 (-2)
7. Scottie Scheffler -1 (+1)
10. Adam Scott E (E)
10. Matthew Jordan E (E)
10. Daniel Brown E (+3)
Top-5 Check Cashers
1. Xander Schauffele – $3.1m
2. Justin Rose – $1.44m
2. Billy Horschel – $1.44m
4. Thirston Lawrence – $876k
5. Russell Henley – $705k
Video: Schauffele’s Winning Highlights
Watch highlights as Xander Schauffele’s victory at the 2024 Open Championship at Royal Troon Golf Club.
Schauffele’s Winning Numbers
Topline Stats:
Driving: 304.6 yards (70th)
Fairways: 37/56 66.1% (T18)
Greens: 50/72, 69.4% (T2)
Putts: 112 (T18)
Par 3 Scoring: -4 (1st)
Par 4 Scoring: -4 (1st)
Par 5 Scoring: -1 (T39)
Birdies+: 15 (T6)
Schauffele’s PGA Tour Season
Starts: 18
Cuts Made: 18
Wins: 2 (PGA, OPEN)
Additional Top 10: 10
Earnings: $15,867,160 (2nd)
FedExCup Pts: 4057 (2nd)
World Rank Before/After: 2/2
3 Questions: Xander Schauffele
1. What was more fun, making a six-footer for birdie and having everyone lose their mind on the 18th or having that walk that you described? What’s the difference in the feelings you had?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: It’s very different. Different times of stress. If there’s a stress meter, I definitely peaked at different moments on the 18th hole today. The fact that it was a little bit of help and I could hit a 3-iron, 8-iron in versus driver, 4-iron, lob wedge or sand wedge or whatever it was.
There’s calmness and super stressful moments when you’re trying to win a major championship. I felt them in the past, the ones I didn’t win, and I let them get to me. Today I felt like I did a pretty good job of weathering the storm when I needed to.
2. Xander, when was the last time you got really visibly angry on a golf course during a tournament?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: I’m not sure. I think a long time ago I just kept tracking my rounds where I got angry, like truly deep down angry, and my mistakes started compounding. I really can’t tell you. I get angry, but to me it’s all about the next shot. I know it’s cliche and people try to talk about it, but you really can make yourself happy if you try to hit a good shot as your next one versus just snowballing the wrong way.
Easier said than done, of course, but I’ve never broken a club, but I’ve gotten pretty pissed off on property. You can probably ask Austin. He’s like an elephant. He keeps track of all these things in his mind.
3. Players that have won two majors in a season recently, like in the last decade, like Rory and Jordan and Brooks, they’re largely regarded as the best players of this generation. Would you say now that you’ve sort of cemented yourself as one of the best of this generation?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: I don’t really think that way, I guess. I think the guys in the States sort of know how these pressers go. Pretty much that’s you guys’ job to speculate on those things. I’m just trying to win as many of these things as I can and play the best golf as I can and be a decent guy.
So I’ll let you ponder that one.
WITB: Xander Schauffele, 2024 OPEN CHAMPION
Schauffele won his first major championship title playing (mostly) a full bag of Callaway gear including a Paradym driver, Apex irons, and a Chrome Tour golf ball.
Driver: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond (10.5°)
3-wood: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond (15°)
4-wood: Callaway Apex UW (21°)
Long Iron: Mizuno MP-20 (3)
Irons: Callaway Apex TCB ’24 (4-10)
Gap Wedge: Callaway Jaws Raw (52°)
Sand Wedge: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (56Ëš)
Lob Wedge: Titleist Vokey Design WedgeWorks Proto (60Ëš)
Putter: Odyssey Toulon Design Las Vegas Prototype 7CH
Ball: Callaway Chrome Tour
Credits: Getty Images, R&A
