Xander Schauffele won the PGA Championship in Louisville, Kentucky, on Sunday afternoon after a disastrous weekend for the world’s top-ranked golfer, Scottie Scheffler.
Schauffele and Collin Morikawa ended Saturday tied but maintained only a narrow lead, forcing the two Americans to fend off those lower on the leaderboard Sunday.
Morikawa faded amid challenges from Bryson DeChambeau and Viktor Hovland. The championship came down to the 18th hole, with the tied leaders, Schauffele and DeChambeau, hitting drives that landed short of the bunker and on its lip, respectively.
Schauffele dug himself out of disaster with a skilled stroke that put him near the green and an opportunity to make birdie. He sank it, earning his first major title.
Schauffele, the Tokyo 2020 Olympics gold medalist, who’s from a golfing family in San Diego, attributed the win to mental focus.
“I kept saying all week I just need to stay in my lane,” he said before he accepted the Wanamaker Trophy. “I tried all day to just keep focus.”
It was the eighth straight year Schauffele, 30, has played in the PGA Championship. Before Sunday, he had racked up seven career wins, none at major tournaments.
DeChambeau, a fellow California native, turned the tournament at Valhalla Golf Club into a nail-biter in its last moments by tying for the lead with a slow-dropping birdie on the 18th hole.
Before that, he took advantage of his luck by making the 16th hole in two strokes.
His drive veered off course but bounced back onto the fairway, giving him the chance for the two-stroke hole with about 4 feet to make it, which he did.
The performance put him second on the leaderboard in the last few holes of the last round.
Hovland, of Norway, also breached the top tier, emerging as a contender for the championship after having putt up a 5-under 66 on Saturday, surpassing Morikawa with a birdie earlier Sunday and at one point reaching 20 under par on the final day of the tournament.
Xander Schauffele of the United States poses with the Wanamaker Trophy after winning the final round of the 2024 PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky., on May 19, 2024.Andy Lyons / Getty Images
Late in the day he emerged as the solo leader.Hovland had been struggling, but he went on a run over the weekend. Last week he told reporters he took on well-known swing coach Joe Mayo to give his game new direction.
“I always like to improve and expand my knowledge,” he said after the tournament’s opening round Thursday.
He also told SiriusXM PGA Championship Radio he considered withdrawing earlier in the tournament.
The 17th hole proved difficult for the day’s challengers, with DeChambeau missing from 22 feet and Hovland missing a 9-foot birdie putt. Advantage Schauffele, who had posted par on 15.
It was a weekend of surprises on the green after Scheffler, who went in as the No. 1 golfer, was arrested Friday outside the tournament. According to his attorney, Steve Romines, police officers investigating a fatal accident and those handling event traffic weren’t communicating effectively.
Scheffler was trying to follow directions he was given, Romines said, but an “officer on a different unit took issue with Scottie following the directions he was given and subsequently placed him under arrest.” Scheffler was accused of dragging an officer with his car.Romines described the incident as a misunderstanding. He said that there are discussions about dropping the charges and that Scheffler is prepared to litigate the case if needed.
But it seemed Scheffler couldn’t shake the incident from his mind as he bombed in Saturday’s round, fading early with no recovery. It ended his streak of 42 consecutive rounds at par or better.
Amid Scheffler’s struggle, the fierce competition of others shone through as a handful of players dominated the leaderboard just a few points apart and pushed perfect games from the golfers Sunday if they wanted to take the win.
Doha Madani
Doha Madani is a senior breaking news reporter for NBC News. Pronouns: she/her.
Dennis Romero
Dennis Romero is a breaking news reporter for NBC News Digital.
The Associated Press
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