Xander Schauffele got up-and-down from just off the green to birdie the 72nd hole of the PGA Championship and win his first major title on Sunday.
Schauffele edged out Bryson DeChambeau by just one shot to claim the Wanamaker Trophy. DeChambeau pressured the 30-year-old with a birdie on No. 18 a couple of groups before Schauffele responded with one of his own. That birdie helped Schauffele reach 21-under for the week – the lowest total at a major championship in golf history.
Viktor Hovland finished solo third at 18-under after a final-round 66 with Collin Morikawa and Thomas Detry tied for fourth at 15-under.
PLACE
PLAYER
TOTAL TO PAR
ROUND 4 SCORE
1
Xander Schauffele
-21
65
2
Bryson DeChambeau
-20
64
3
Viktor Hovland
-18
66
T-4
Thomas Detry
-15
66
T-4
Collin Morikawa
-15
71
T-6
Justin Rose
-14
69
T-6
Shane Lowry
-14
70
T-8
Robert MacIntyre
-13
70
T-8
Justin Thomas
-13
68
T-8
Scottie Scheffler
-13
65
T-8
Billy Horschel
-13
-7
A packed leaderboard at the beginning of the round became a three-man race between Schauffele, DeChambeau, and Hovland down the stretch. After DeChambeau’s electric birdie on No. 18, Hovland narrowly missed his own chance to reach 20-under before three-putting for a bogey.
“I seriously thought 18 (under) was going to do it, and then when I saw what Xander was doing, I was like ‘Man, he’s playing some unbelievable golf,’” DeChambeau said after the round. “And then Viktor was right there – I mean, he was beating me for quite a while. And I was hitting it all over the place. It was an impressive round of golf by all three of us and I don’t know what else to say.”
That left Schauffele on the 17th hole needing to play the final two in 1-under to win the trophy. A clutch up-and-down to save par on the penultimate hole sent him to No. 18 knowing a birdie would secure his first major. After his drive came to rest just outside a fairway bunker, Schauffele hooked a 4-iron that ran out 36 yards short of the green.
“Once I got up – I’ve hit some dodgy chips in my career in tough moments – I just kept telling myself, ‘I need to prove this to myself,’” Schauffele said. “That easy up-and-down on 17, I hit that close. This aggressive pitch I need to drive into this hill here. Wasn’t the easiest one you want versus something just trundling, but I stayed aggressive and was able to make the putt.”
Schauffele becomes the 11th wire-to-wire winner in PGA Championship history after grabbing the first-round lead with a 9-under 62 to match the lowest single round ever at a major championship.
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