Xander Schauffele admitted that it was a relief to finally claim his first Major Championship without needing to go head to head with Bryson DeChambeau in a playoff – something he said would not have been “a whole lot of fun”.
DeChambeau had posted the target at 20-under to apply huge pressure on the man chasing his maiden victory in one of the coveted ‘Big 4’ events, but Schauffele showed terrific mental strength to get the job done by a single stroke, courtesy of a birdie on the last hole.
Afterwards, he offered a fascinating insight into what was going on in his head at various stages of what was an enthralling final day.
“Someone like me has pretty much tried everything, to be completely honest, that hasn’t won in two years,” admitted the new World No.2, whose last win came at the 2022 Genesis Scottish Open.
“You try not to look at the leaderboards until the back nine, you try not to look at them early, you try not to look at them at all.
“Today I looked at them. I looked at them all day. I really wanted to feel everything. I wanted to address everything that I was feeling in the moment.”
On what was racing through his mind in the closing moments, he said: “I really did not want to go into a playoff with Bryson. Going up 18 with his length, it’s not something that I was going to have a whole lot of fun with.
“If he tomahawks a draw off the water it’s literally going to be like a driver, 9-iron maybe – you can ask him – 8-iron.”
After being comprehensively outplayed by Rory McIlroy the week prior, when the Northern Irishman overturned an overnight deficit to take the Wells Fargo title, Schauffele would have been wondering if history was about to repeat itself.
Viktor Hovland and DeChambeau made it a three-horse race down the stretch and Schauffele was forced to dig deep on more than one occasion, which made victory all the sweeter.
Xander Schauffele holes a nervy six-footer on the final hole to win his first Major title
(Image credit: Getty Images)
“I just kept telling myself I need to earn this, earn this and be in the moment, and I was able to do that,” said Schauffele, who faced a six-footer on the final hole to win – a putt that he wasn’t too convinced about.
“I was pretty nervous. I walked up, I saw a little left to right. I kept…
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