American Xander Schauffele emerged from a tightly-bunched leaderboard to win the 152nd British Open with a supreme blemish-free final-round 65 at Royal Troon on Sunday.
Beginning the day among a group of players one stroke behind leader Billy Horschel, world number three Schauffele was in total control as he produced an immaculate display to finish nine under par.
When Schauffele tapped in his par on the 18th green the Claret Jug was his even if South Africa’s Thriston Lawrence, who had earlier shared the lead, was still to finish his round.
Justin Rose, bidding to become the first Englishman to win the Open since Nick Faldo in 1992, was left to ponder what might have been as he finished two shots back in tied second place having barely put a foot wrong over the weekend.
Horschel birdied the 18th to join Rose on seven under and Lawrence was fourth on six under with American Russell Henley fifth and Ireland’s 2019 Open champion Shane Lowry sixth.
The 30-year-old Schauffele had not won a major until dominating this year’s PGA Championship in May when he finished on a record 21-under-par to edge out Bryson DeChambeau.
He took his new-found swagger to the Ayrshire coast to claim the Open in superb fashion.
Schauffele’s victory means the last seven majors have all been won by Americans and for the first time since 1982 Americans have swept all four majors in a season.
After the wild weather on Saturday had left 24 players within six shots of the lead, the year’s final major looked set for a nerve-jangling climax.
Midway through the afternoon that seemed likely, but Schauffele was simply too accurate off the tee, on the fairways and the greens, making six birdies and not a single bogey in a masterful exhibition of links golf.
