[PHOTO: Kevin C. Cox]
After claiming his second major in two months, Xander Schauffele acknowledged how much winning the first one at the PGA Championship in May helped him down the stretch on the final day at Royal Troon. It was a big reason why he looked so calm and collected during that back-nine 31 as he pulled away from a packed leaderboard at the Open Championship – not that his caddie, Austin Kaiser, felt the same way.
“I was telling Austin, my caddie, on the 18th hole that I felt pretty calm coming down the stretch,” Schauffele told Sky Sports afterwards. “And he said he was about to puke on the 18th.”
But while the victory at Valhalla was a big factor in Schauffele’s lack of nerves, it also helped that he played about the most stress-free round of golf possible. At least, given the setting of the final round of a major championship.
By now, golf fans are well familiar with Schauffele’s ball-striking clinic that produced 16 greens hit in regulation, but there’s another, wilder stat that tells the story even better. Put simply, he never had to even sweat over a par putt.
Xander's longest putt for par today was 2'10"
Zero stress whatsoever
— Fried Egg Golf (@fried_egg_golf) July 21, 2024
That’s right, the longest par putt he faced all day – two feet, 10 inches; or 86 centimetres – was one you and your mates would probably give each other. Crazy.
That (nearly) three-footer came on the par-5 fourth hole where Schauffele ran his 20-foot birdie attempt past the cup. And despite hitting all those greens, he never left himself more than that for par all day.
In fact, the two times he missed a green, on the second and ninth holes, he nearly chipped in. Talk about having total mastery of all facets of your game.
Add it all up, and Schauffele shot a bogey-free 65 that included a back-nine 31. And a fitting final tap-in par on 18.
