Peerless Schauffele leaves Rose ‘choking back tears’ with second major win

In the Firth of Clyde by the edge of Royal Troon, a hardy bare-chested supporter held up a homemade sign with the words “Good Luck Justin Rose” daubed on cardboard. Shivering in the iced waters, the ink on his soggy placard had started to run. It was a sign of things to come as all challengers slowly faded and the name at the top of the huge yellow leaderboard, Xander Schauffele, had become a permanent fixture long before the end.
Rose, 43, was trying to set the record for the longest gap between major triumphs at 4,053 days, but Schauffele has now won two in 63. He is the man of the golfing year and one for all seasons. He set a new low-scoring major record at the US PGA Championship in May but had to show grit and guile in this triumph of endurance. A by-product of his success means Americans have won the past seven majors and have completed a sweep of all four for the first time since 1982, when Tom Watson won at Troon.
The Scots have scores of words for rain, but after the smirr, uplowsin and goselet lifted and the winds dropped, nothing could rain on this parade. “He’s such a calm guy out there,” Rose said. “I don’t know what he’s feeling but he makes it look very easy.” Stellar approach play and a bogey-free display provided a potent combination.
The facts are Schauffele’s round of 65 took him to nine under par and a two-stroke advantage over Rose and Billy Horschel. The latter had led six men by a shot at the start yesterday, but failed to make ground after the turn. A hat-trick of birdies to finish for the Florida branch of the West Ham United fan club was a happy ending and gave him his best major result, but Schauffele had separated himself from the rest by the run-in. As for Rose, he admitted to “choking back tears” as he walked up the final fairway after coming so close to a first Open victory.
His father confirmed they would be filling the Claret Jug with claret, which sums up his son’s straightforward methodology. Schauffele is a phlegmatic figure, but he clearly has hidden depths. “Everyone in my family knows how competitive I am,” he said. “I may not be the guy running around fist pumping but that’s just who I am.” Snapping clubs would take him too long to readjust before the next shot, he explained. “I’ve embraced this sort of SoCal laid-back kid, but there’s obviously a fire burning deep within or I wouldn’t have a couple of majors sitting by my side.” And he craves more. Halfway to the career grand slam, he said: “It’s something I’ve always wanted. If you don’t see yourself doing it, you’re never going to.”
Thriston Lawrence, the South African who did little wrong and also led on the back nine, was fourth. The destabilising gusts that had wrought so much pain over the first three days finally softened to herald scoring opportunities, but fast starts faded, notably from Shane Lowry and Jon Rahm, although they finished sixth and tied seventh respectively.
Rose had climbed to the top after opening with old-time intent, but when Schauffele overhauled all, the outcome seemed inevitable. Nevertheless, Rose will reflect that he had a great Open and came close to adding to his US Open from 2013, but one poor chip at the 12th ultimately killed the momentum. Lest we forget, he had to qualify for this championship some 26 years after he burst into the public consciousness with his showboating turn as a teenage amateur at Birkdale. It matched his best Open finish from Carnoustie in 2018 and leading a major on a Sunday will whet his appetite for more dream-chasing.
It felt fitting that he made one last birdie on the 18th. A round of 67 with one bogey was worthy of appreciation, and while teenage dreams are hard to beat, this middle-aged one was special too. There may be diminishing opportunities these days, but this was not a squandered chance, merely an unfulfilled one. He was not about to die wondering as he pulled out his driver on the 16th fairway and bullied his ball to the green. Schauffele, though, was playing a game to shed all hopes of an implosion. Asked where the round stood in his personal pantheon, he said: “The very tip top. Best round I’ve played.”
And what of Dan Brown? The world No272 was one of the first Sunday hopefuls to stumble, but he kept grinding to make the top ten. He dropped a shot at the 1st, bounced back at the 2nd and then took two shots to get out of a bunker on the 4th. A mixed bag was not going to be enough with so many people still involved, but the son of the pig farmer had given the Open some welcome colour. You can’t start a fire without a spark and his result means he will be back for another go next year, along with his compatriot Matthew Jordan, who started last year’s Open at his home club at Hoylake.
In truth, Schauffele’s metronomic game meant the final day did not match the drama of what had gone before, and he had to wait impatiently for the final two groups to finish, but this Open has thrown up some treats. Some of the elite do have a grating tendency to make the back nine at Troon sound like Dante’s nine circles of hell, but if there are no Fuzzy-Felt PGA Tour greens here, the need to shape shots, plot routes, gauge the wind and test heart and nerve made for compelling competition.
Brown also got to play with Scottie Scheffler. We knew the American was good at escapology after he managed to play a round at Schuaffele’s PGA Championship not long after being handcuffed on spurious assault charges, but the artistry of his drives and approaches were too often preludes to putts sliding by. It irks him that people say it is his Achilles’ heel, but he missed one putt from 2½ feet on the 9th just as he was making his move. This may be deemed McIlroy-esque after the world No2’s US Open demise. Nevertheless, Scheffler also made another top ten on a day when his putter was as cold as the estuary swimmers.
Justin Rose admitted he was “choking back tears” on the walk to the 18th green after falling agonisingly short to an inspired Xander Schauffele in the final round of the Open (Tom Kershaw writes).
The Englishman, who turns 44 this month, had edged into a share of the lead as he made the turn after three birdies on the front nine and sought to end his 11-year wait for a second major triumph.
But Rose stuttered when a flared approach at the 12th resulted in his first bogey of the round, just as Schauffele embarked on a brilliant run of birdies to follow up his maiden major victory at the US PGA Championship only two months ago.
“Well, I won second place, I won points, I won prizes, FedExCup points, all that stuff too. At that point, you’re being a professional,” Rose said.
“Then I walk ten steps later, and I’m choking back tears, so that’s the shift. Yeah, just personal, and enjoying 18 with the fans too. I just think it’s such an amazing stage. For me, that’s the best look in golf, those two long grandstands that you walk down and the big yellow leaderboard. That’s what I associate as a magic moment.
“[I was] gutted when I walked off the course and it hit me hard because I was so strong out there. I really played the way I wanted to. I got off on the front foot. I played my way right into the tournament early doors. I did a lot of the hard things really well on the golf course today.
“Just a critical moment midway through the back nine momentum-wise. Obviously Xander got it going. I hit a couple of really good putts that didn’t fall and then suddenly that lead stretched. In terms of how I played and the execution of my emotions today, my mindset, I left it all out there. I’m super proud of how I competed.”