The Open: Wild Xander Schauffele stat shows ease of final round

Royal Troon delivered an Open for the ages, with Xander Schauffele eventually coming out on top, thanks to a stellar final day 65.

The American collected his second major of the year in a blustery and difficult day on the Ayrshire links, but frankly he made the conditions look easy.

While others faltered, the now two-time major champion separated himself from the pack with a faultless 65.

And if it seemed like his round was without any real incident, then that’s probably because it was.

• How Xander Schauffele stormed to the Claret Jug

• Winner’s bag: Xander Schauffele WITB

Of course, Schauffele’s six birdies were hugely impressive, especially his four on the back nine. But, a stat that really catches the eye relates to the length of the par putts he had throughout the day.

Schauffele never had any stress over a par putt over his final round, with his longest putt for par under the three foot mark.

Xander's longest putt for par today was 2'10"

Zero stress whatsoever

— Fried Egg Golf (@fried_egg_golf) July 21, 2024

To do that in any round of golf is impressive, but to do it with the Open championship on the line is unbelievable.

It wasn’t until the 13th hole where the Champion Golfer of the Year holed any putt over ten foot, where he rolled in a 16 footer for a birdie two.

It’s something that wasn’t lost on Schauffele, who said that throughout the week, keeping big numbers off his card was the key to success.

“I felt like I limited the mistakes pretty well. I felt like I just controlled a lot of what I was trying to do, and the moments where I was losing control, I sort of hit it offline and into the fescue, I wasn’t too worried about it because it’s links golf.”

There’s an old saying that boring golf is good golf. Of course, shooting a 65 to win your first Open Championship is far from boring, but lots of tap-in pars in your round might feel monotonous.

Xander Schauffele’s final round at the Open just shows that if you’re making lots of stress free pars, you’re probably doing something right.

What putter does Xander Schauffele use?

You’ll probably want the details on the weapon that Schauffele was wielding on the greens. Schauffele uses a custom Odyssey that is something of a cross between two putters that he used in the past.

Schauffele likes the red design, something that he used back in 2020 in an Odyssey O-Works putter in the same shape. But, Schauffele then switched to an Odyssey Toulon prototype design, in the same shape.

Schauffele said at the time that he liked the red design of the original putter, but preferred the firmer feel off the face of the silver Toulon design.

The solution was simple: create a putter that has the same firmer feel insert, but with the red colourway.

We aren’t expecting it to come out of the bag anytime soon.

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Lewis Fraser As bunkered’s Performance Editor, Lewis oversees the content that’s designed to make you a better player. From the latest gear to tuition, nutrition, strategy and more, he’s the man. A graduate of the University of Stirling, Lewis joined bunkered in 2021. Formerly a caddie at Castle Stuart Golf Links, he is a member of Bathgate Golf Club where he plays off four.

Performance Editor