PGA Championship: Xander Schauffele seals epic first major win

FINAL LEADERBOARD

-21 Schauffele
-20 DeChambeau
-19 Hovland
-15 Detry

SELECTED OTHERS

-14 Rose
-13 Scheffler
-12 McIlroy

* * *

Xander Schauffele is a major champion at last.

For so long the bridesmaid and never the bride on golf’s biggest stages, Schauffele has re-written his own story in an epic finale at the PGA Championship.

And Schauffele’s wire-to-wire victory doesn’t tell half the tale in what was the most chaotic major in recent memory.

Thirteen players were within five shots of his shared overnight lead, but Schauffele fired a sublime 65 at Valhalla to edge out closest challengers Bryson DeChambeau and Viktor Hovland, in doing so recording the lowest score in men’s major history.

• Rory McIlroy told two biggest reasons for his major drought

• PGA Championship: Record prize money announced!

DeChambeau’s charge on a thrilling Sunday had left the 30-year-old American needing a birdie on the par-5 18th to secure victory.

And what a birdie he made.

Schauffele nailed his nerve-shredding seven-footer on his 72nd hole to not only claim the Wanamaker Trophy but to silence the doubters who thought this moment might never come.

Schauffele’s imperious win was his first in two years and comes just a week after being dismantled by Rory McIlroy in the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow.

He has now banished any doubts of his closing ability by holding his nerve to snatch one of the game’s career-defining titles.

• PGA Championship: 34 very random thoughts and takeaways from Valhalla

• Jim Nantz reveals poignant origin of “Hello, friends” catchphrase

“I was kind of emotional after the putt lipped in,” Schauffele said after the winning moment.

“It’s been a while since I’ve won and I kept saying all week I needed to stay in my lane. Man was it hard to do that today. I tried all day to keep focussed on what I needed to do and keep every hole ahead of me.

“I think I would have been a bit less patient if that putt had not have gone in. I really did not want to go into a play-off against Bryson. I am assuming we’d have played 18 and it would have been a lot of work. I told myself ‘this was my opportunity, just capture it.'”

“My mum is in San Diego and my dad is in Hawaii and I managed to call him but I had to hang up quickly because he was making me cry. He was on the phone bawling. It means so much.”

As well as hoisting the Wanamaker, Schauffele banks a winner’s cheque of $3.33million. He is also no longer this sport’s nearly man. Write him off in future majors championships at your peril.

Ben Parsons is the Senior Writer at bunkered and is the man to come to for all of the latest news, across both the professional and amateur games. Formerly of The Mirror and Press Association, he is a member at Halifax Golf Club and is a long-suffering fan of both Manchester United and the Wales rugby team.