Ryan Lavner says one part of Xander Schauffele’s game was ‘unbelievable’ during final round of The Open

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Ryan Lavner has suggested that one part of Xander Schauffele’s game was ‘unbelievable’ during the final round of The Open Championship, as the American went on to seal his second major title at Royal Troon.

With 15 players separated by five shots at the top of the leaderboard heading into the final round at The Open Championship, there always appeared to be the potential for one to fly out of the pack and produce a commanding performance to seal the last major of 2024.

Many may have expected Scottie Scheffler to come from two back to win, but Xander Schauffele was definitely in the mix, particularly in a year in which he sealed the PGA Championship.

And it was indeed the 30-year-old who triumphed at Troon, with Schauffele shooting a flawless 65 to win by two over Justin Rose and Billy Horschel.

Where Xander Schauffele was unbelievable in final round of The Open

It was such an accomplished performance from Schauffele, but speaking on the Golf Channel Podcast, Lavner suggested that one aspect of his game stood out ahead of the rest.

“When you look at him statistically in that final round, he did everything well, in particular his iron play was amazing,” he said.

“It was sort of the bugaboo in his game, the reason that he had not quite ascended to that superstar level. In the final round, he gained more than five shots on the field with his approach play, just an unbelievable performance, outlasted Justin Rose, clutched up in the moments Justin Rose could not.”

Golf’s next major rivalry perfectly poised

Schauffele is just one of those players who appears to do everything extremely well. While Scheffler’s putting was extremely poor over the weekend, Schauffele did not let up the pressure on his rivals.

He is not the longest off the tee on the PGA Tour – he ranks 37th for driving distance this season – but he is second for total strokes gained: 11th off the tee, 5th for approach play, and 10th for putting.

For a while, it appeared that the only issue Schauffele had to address was whether he was going to be able to win the major championships he clearly had the ability to claim. Those questions came as late as the days leading up to the PGA Championship after Rory McIlroy blew him away in the final round of the Wells Fargo Championship.

But those doubts have been put to bed in emphatic fashion over the last few months, and the race between Schauffele and Scheffler for the most major titles in their career is now on.