The X-man cometh
Xander Schauffele finally delivers at PGA; DeChambeau entertains; Koepka seethes; Scheffler rebounds
Xander Schauffele celebrates walk-off birdie (Maddie Mayer/PGA of America)
Newly minted world No. 2 Xander Schauffele never has to answer the questions again — why can’t he win the big ones? It was a fitting end to one of the weirdest weeks in major championship history
He shut up any detractors with a brilliant walk-off birdie on the par-5 18th hole at Valhalla Golf Club, curling in a 6-footer to seal the deal by a stroke over Bryson DeChambeau.
“I knew I had to birdie the last hole, looking up at the board,” he said. “It was a hectic birdie, as well, but it was awesome. I kept telling myself, I need to earn this, I need to prove this to myself, and this is my time.”
Schauffele started the week with a 62 and ended it a wire-to-wire winner, burying forever the narrative that he isn’t a closer. The Olympic gold medalist is now a major champion after shooting the all-time scoring record at 21-under par to win the 106th PGA Championship.
Schauffele is the first player to birdie the 72nd hole to win the PGA Championship by a stroke since Phil Mickelson in 2005 at Baltusrol. Before that, Payne Stewart did it in 1989 at Kemper Lakes. His 21-under total broke the scoring record in all majors of 20-under shared by Jason Day at the 2015 PGA (Whistling Straits) and Dustin Johnson in the November 2020 Masters.
It was a climactic finish at a venue that always delivers the drama. In a stellar final-round shootout in which five golfers were within a shot of the lead at some point on the front nine, Schauffele, DeChambeau and Viktor Hovland separated themselves in a mad race for the Wanamaker Trophy.
DeChambeau and Hovland each had 10-footers on the last for birdie to gain a share at 20-under with Schauffele a hole behind them. DeChambeau made his and Hovland missed, setting the stage for Schauffele on the par-5 finisher.
Schauffele — who briefly ceded the lead to Hovland with a bogey on 10 only to bounce back with a pair of birdies on 11 and 12 — knew exactly what he needed to do.
He wanted to know.
“I was looking up at the board. There's been times where I tried to look away from it until the back nine, but today I was looking at it,” he said of a moment he was determined to seize.
“I just wanted to be aware of everything. I wanted to know exactly where I stood. I wanted to know … address my feelings when they were happening.”
DeChambeau put up a helluva fight shooting a bogey-free 7-under 64 on Sunday, including a clutch birdie on the last when his putt barely covered the 10 feet, 9 inches and tumbled over the lip to reach 20-under and put the pressure on Schauffele to make birdie to avoid a three-hole playoff. It was the first moment all week that the 2020 U.S. Open champion had grabbed a piece of the lead.