Following a wild weekend of arrests, record low scores, and more, it was Xander Schauffele who broke away from the pack to claim the first major victory of his professional career at the 2024 PGA Championship at the Valhalla Golf Club.
Schauffele narrowly edged out Bryson DeChambeau for a 1 stroke victory, carding a 6 under par final round to finish -21 for the weekend.
The 30 year old began the final round tied for the lead with Collin Morikawa, but finished strong down the back nine to finally close out the first major championship of his PGA Tour career. Long labelled “the best golfer in the world without a major”, Schauffele will be all too happy to shed that label moving forward.
Things got dicey for the San Diego native on the 10th hole after the carded a bogey to drop a stroke. However back to back birdies on 11 and 12 put him back into the lead heading into the final few holes of the tournament.
After DeChambeau birdied 18 to tie Schauffele at -20, the two-time major tournament runner up needed a birdie on the 72nd hole if he wanted to avoid a playoff. The drama was ratcheted up a few notches when his drive left him with an awkward lie near a bunker. However a well struck iron left him just short of the green, where he was able to showcase his superb chipping skills by sticking his 3rd shot 5 feet from the cup.
Following several collapses down the stretch at the US Open, and The Masters, Schauffele drained his birdie attempt to seal the victory and claim his first career Wanamaker Trophy.
For his efforts, Schauffele will take home $3.3M from the tournament purse, and finally be able to call himself a “major winner” on the PGA Tour. Rounding out the top 5 were DeChambeau (-20), Hovland (-18), Detry (-15), and Morikawa (-15).
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