Xander Schauffele returned to the winner’s circle with a one-shot victory at the PGA Championship, but could his history-making success lead to more major titles?
Schauffele silenced questions over his ability to close out tournaments by carding a brilliant five-under 66 during the final day at Valhalla, with a birdie on the 72nd hole enough to edge out Bryson DeChambeau after a thrilling Sunday.
The Olympic gold medallist equalled the lowest round in men’s major history with a 62 on the opening day and ended the week on 21 under – the lowest 72-hole score in majors,in the process becoming the fifth consecutive American major champion.
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Schauffele had only converted two of his previous eight 54-hole leads or co-leads on the PGA Tour prior to Sunday’s win, with the 30-year-old also posting 12 major top-10 finishes without success until lifting the Wanamaker Trophy.
The win lifts him above Rory McIlroy to second in the latest world rankings, and Schauffele is now likely to be among the favourites at next month’s US Open – a tournament at which he has finished no worse than 14th in seven previous appearances – and The Open at Royal Troon later this summer.
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“I think he’ll go on and win a few and I do think he’ll go on and win an Open, because he’s a proper player who can shape it both ways,” two-time DP World Tour winner Anthony Wall told the Sky Sports Golf podcast.
“Now he has got over the line, I think he’ll go ahead and win another one quite quickly. He’s that sort of character, a little bit like a Brooks Koepka – he burst on the scene, went quiet and now has won a few, so Schauffele could be one of those.
“I think he has a great chance at Troon. He had a great chance even if he hadn’t won the PGA Championship, because he’s that sort of player. He just sticks around and that’s what it takes to win majors, because people love to give them away because they’re so hard to win.”
What else is on the podcast?
Gary Murphy and Anthony Wall join regular host Josh Antmann to look back at a thrilling major finish, with the trio reflecting on Schauffele’s previous near-misses and how DeChambeau contending for majors is good for the sport.
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They look back at eventful week for world No 1 Scottie Scheffler, who finished tied-eighth despite being arrested ahead of his second round, plus the other talking points from a gripping major in Kentucky.
There’s discussion on Nelly Korda’s sixth LPGA Tour victory in seven starts, as well as a look ahead to all of this week’s DP World Tour action and live golf on Sky Sports.
Download and listen to the latest Sky Sports Golf podcast and don’t forget to subscribe via Spotify, Spreaker or Apple Podcasts! If you’d like to contact the podcast, then you can email at golf@skysports.com.
