Xander Schauffele discusses winning his second major in three months after his surge up the leaderboard in the final round at The Open. (0:55)
On a day when seven golfers started the final round within one shot of leader Billy Horschel, Schauffele was the man holding the Claret Jug at the iconic links course on Scotland's west coast. He posted a 6-under 65 on Sunday, just like he did in the final round of the PGA Championship, and his 72-hole total of 9-under 275 put him two strokes ahead of Horschel and England's Justin Rose.
South Africa's Thriston Lawrence was another stroke back.
Xander Schauffele, who is just the sixth golfer to win his first two majors in the same year, became just the seventh golfer to win the PGA Championship and The Open in the same year.
According to ESPN Stats & Information, Schauffele is the first golfer in the Masters era (since 1934) to have multiple final rounds of 65 or better in majors in the same year.
It's the seventh consecutive major won by an American golfer, the longest such streak since they captured 13 straight from 1974 to 1977.
It's the first year since 1982 that U.S. golfers claimed all four majors -- Scottie Scheffler won the Masters and Bryson DeChambeau captured the U.S. Open.
Schauffele is the first golfer since Brooks Koepka in 2018 (U.S. Open and PGA Championship) to claim two majors in one season. It's only the seventh time a player won both the PGA Championship and The Open in the same year; Rory McIlroy was the last to do it in 2014.
Schauffele's victory on Sunday required patience. He opened his final round with five straight pars, and he fell behind Horschel, Lawrence and Rose. Schauffele kick-started his round with back-to-back birdies on Nos. 6 and 7 and made the turn at 2-under 34.
While the difficult par-4 11th, known as The Railway, ended plenty of golfers' hopes this week, Schauffele avoided trouble off the tee and hit his approach from 171 yards to 2½ feet for another birdie to get to 6 under. He moved into a tie for first when Lawrence made a bogey on the 12th.
Xander Schauffele's 65 at Royal Troon is tied for the fourth-lowest final round by a winner in Open Championship history.
Schauffele then seized control with another pair of birdies, making a 16-foot uphill putt on the par-4 13th and a 12½-footer on the par-3 14th. He moved to 8 under and had a two-stroke lead with four holes to play.
Schauffele added another birdie on the par-5 16th to stretch his lead to three shots.
"He has a lot of horsepower," Rose said of Schauffele. "He's good with a wedge, he's great with a putter, he hits the ball a long way, obviously his iron play is strong. So he's got a lot of weapons out there. I think probably one of his most unappreciated ones is his mentality. He's such a calm guy out there.
"I don't know what he's feeling, but he certainly makes it look very easy."
Several other golfers, including Scheffler, the No. 1-ranked player in the world, faltered down the stretch. Scheffler was looking for his seventh victory and second major championship title this season. He moved into the mix with back-to-back birdies on Nos. 7 and 8.
Scheffler's chances of winning a Claret Jug ended on the par-4 ninth. His approach shot was 15 yards short of the green. He putted to 6½ feet and somehow 3-putted from there, missing from 2 feet, 8 inches on the second attempt. Scheffler carded a double-bogey 6, dropping him 2 under, four shots behind the leaders as he made the turn.
Scheffler also had a double-bogey on the 18th. He posted a 1-over 72 and tied for seventh at 1-under 283.
Spain's Jon Rahm made one of the biggest moves after starting the day six shots behind Horschel. The two-time major champion made four birdies in his first seven holes to get to 2 under.
On the par-4 11th hole, Rahm pushed his tee shot towards the railway on the right. He hit a provisional tee shot, but ended up finding his ball in a gorse bush. Following a one-stroke penalty for an unplayable lie, Rahm made a bogey 5, dropping him to 1 under. He posted a 3-under 68 and finished 1-under 283.
