The 42

AMERICA’S XANDER SCHAUFFELE won his second Major of the golf season as he finished two shots clear of the field to win The Open Championship at Royal Troon.

Schauffele shot a final round of 65 to win on nine-under par, two clear of Justin Rose and Billy Horschel, while South Africa’s Thriston Lawrence — who held the lead after 11 holes of the final round — finished a shot further back in fourth following a 68. 

Shane Lowry finished in sixth place on four-under after a closing 68. Lowry, who held the outright lead after 36 holes, made four birdies in five holes on the front nine to briefly move to within just one shot of the lead, but ultimately finished five behind Schauffele.

The winning putt. pic.twitter.com/NG7n73Ukgm

— The Open (@TheOpen) July 21, 2024

Schauffele, who registered a major record of 21-under par to win the US PGA at Valhalla in May, is the first player to win two majors in a year since Brooks Koepka in 2018.

The world number three is also the seventh American winner in the last eight Opens at Royal Troon – Sweden’s Henrik Stenson having denied Phil Mickelson in a thrilling duel in 2016 – and will head to Paris to defend his Olympic title in brilliant form.

Schauffele, who has now finished no worse than 18th in his last 10 starts, was eighth in the Masters and seventh in the US Open either side of his US PGA triumph, where he birdied the 72nd hole to edge out Bryson DeChambeau by a shot.

Rose was bidding to become the first qualifier to lift the Claret Jug since Paul Lawrie in 1999, while the 4,053-day gap since his 2013 US Open victory at Merion would have set a new record.

The prospects looked good when Rose birdied the second and fourth to overhaul Horschel and again when he birdied the eighth, only for a bogey on the 12th to halt his momentum at just the wrong time.

Playing alongside Horschel, Lawrence was reaping the rewards for an aggressive approach as birdies on the third, fourth, seventh and ninth gave him the lead before Schauffele, who had covered the front nine in 34, produced a decisive burst.

A stunning approach to the 11th left Schauffele with a tap-in for the only birdie all day on the daunting par four, another on the 13th took him into a share of the lead and Lawrence’s bogey on the 12th handed Schauffele an advantage he would never relinquish.

Further birdies on the 14th and 16th gave Schauffele the luxury of a three-shot lead and he completed a nerveless display with pars on the final two holes before Rose birdied the 18th to round off a superb 67.

Horschel birdied the 16th, 17th and 18th to join Rose in second, with Lawrence another shot back after saving par on the last despite hitting his second shot into the face of a bunker and watching it fly back over his head onto the fairway.

World number one Scottie Scheffler — who had been within two of the lead until amazingly four-putting the ninth for a double bogey — was among a group of players who finished tied-seventh on one-over par.

Written by The 42 and originally published on The 42 whose award-winning team produces original content that you won’t find anywhere else: on GAA, League of Ireland, women’s sport and boxing, as well as our game-changing rugby coverage, all with an Irish eye. Subscribe here.