Smylie Kaufman has picked out the ‘unbelievable’ shot from Xander Schauffele which stood out to him as the crucial moment on the final day of The Open Championship as the American went on to clinch his second major title at Royal Troon.
Xander Schauffele was the man to lift the Claret Jug at Royal Troon on Sunday, with the 30-year-old producing a flawless final round to win by two ahead of Justin Rose and Billy Horschel in South Ayrshire.
Schauffele actually made a quiet start to his final round on Sunday, making par on the first five holes as the likes of Rose and Thriston Lawrence started to grab control of the lead at Troon.
But Schauffele then made six birdies in his final 13 holes to win his second major this season following his triumph at the PGA Championship earlier this year.
Xander Schauffele’s shot of the day from final round picked out
Schauffele was one of only two players on Sunday to go bogey-free alongside Russell Henley, but he was also one of the only players all week to make a birdie on 11. The hole, named The Railway, stopped a number of players in their tracks over the week, but Schauffele managed to make a crucial three in his final round.
And speaking on The Smylie Show, Kaufman suggested that his approach into that hole was the game-changer for the man who would go on to be named Champion Golfer of the Year.
“It was a very unique Open Championship and Sunday that I feel like just lived up to what the great players do, and Xander’s entering that category right now, which is being able to play in the biggest events and have some memorable, big time moments. The back nine 31, bogey-free on the day,’ he said.
“Heading into the day, I said hey, two under needs to be your minimum on the front, and I felt like it was going to be a hold on on the back, but the conditions like I talked about, that were in the morning, they softened, if it was 15-20 to start the day when I was out there, by the end of the day, it was a I’d say 10-12 miles an hour wind and it was across, a little bit of help. And that was enough for Xander Schauffele to just hit shot after shot after shot, and putted extremely well on the back nine.
“But the shot of the day, for me, for Xander was the pitching wedge at the 11th hole. That was a hole that, to me, was the ultimate decider of Xander Schauffele’s going to be in this. The pitching wedge that he pulled from 173 yards from the rough was a perfect club pull, unbelievable execution, and to birdie a hole that nobody was birdieing in that entire week was just the storyline. It was the hardest tee shot, one of the hardest holes, and that set him up to go birdie three more holes on the back nine.”
A man for all seasons
That was largely the difference between Schauffele and Rose, who was playing alongside him on Sunday. Rose barely put a foot wrong, and you would imagine that he would have been delighted had he been told before play started that he would shoot a 67.
But Schauffele is definitely one of the world’s very best right now, matching Scottie Scheffler’s current major tally. And what is frightening for The Open champion’s rivals is that there does not appear to be a test which does not suit Schauffele’s game anymore.
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