Xander Schauffele goes into the 150th Open as the hottest player on the planet with his third win in three successive tournaments at the Genesis Scottish Open.
The 28-year-old had a three-shot lead at the start at The Renaissance Club. That extended to four at one point on a boiling afternoon before a mid-round crisis knocked him out the lead.
Calming the ship
Another one for the trophy case 🏆 pic.twitter.com/Ejvoiq1m6f
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 10, 2022
However he “calmed the ship” on the back nine to edge back ahead of fellow American Kurt Kitayama. Birdies at 14 and 16 gave him a two-shot advantage for the tough final two holes, and it stayed intact with a superb up-and-down at the short 17th.
That meant he could take an iron for safety and take all danger out 18, and he could easily afford the missed eight-foot putt for par to win by a shot.
His par round of 70 for a seven-under aggregate of 203 was a shot ahead of Kitayama and two ahead of Korea’s Joohyung Kim. Patrick Cantlay and Tommy Fleetwood shared fourth on four-under.
Third win in a row
"It's an incredible feeling, a big sense of relief." 🙌
Hear from your champion, @XSchauffele.#GenesisScottishOpen | #RolexSeries pic.twitter.com/w6n2CZ472J
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) July 10, 2022
Schauffele won the last PGA Tour event he played before coming to Europe, the Travelers Championship. Earlier in the week he won the two-day JP McManus Pro-Am event.
“It’s an incredible feeling, a big sense of relief,” said of his latest win. “The par on 17 was a big one, but there was not full relief there because 18 is so tough.
“It was a very stressful day, I’m not going to put makeup on the pig there. It was a very average day for me, probably my worst this week.
“As boring as it is to say, you really can’t get of yourself in links golf. Today was ahead, I was behind, I was ahead, I was behind.
“Just kept my head down in all, and It’s incredible to come through.”
“It’s the first of many co-sanctioned (between the PGA Tour and DP World Tour) events and it’s a real thrill to win the first one.”
Choppy waters
📈 New leader, @Kurt_Kitayama (-7)
2: @XSchauffele (-6)
3: @TommyFleetwood1, @JordanSpieth (-5)It's going to be some finish here! 🏆#GenesisScottishOpen🏴 | #RolexSeries | #FedExCup pic.twitter.com/2KXvyVC3Na
— Genesis Scottish Open (@ScottishOpen) July 10, 2022
Schauffele had appeared to be sailing serenely to victory with birdies at the first two holes, just as he had on Saturday.
But like then, he found choppy waters towards the turn. Bogeys at 6, 7 and 9 brought him back to the field and within range of Kitayama and others on the charge, including Jordan Spieth, Kim, Cantlay and Fleetwood.
But none of them could negotiate a par finish to the tough closing stretch. Spieth doubled the short 14th and bogeyed the 15th to fall out, while all the rest had a stalling birdie down the stretch.
Schauffele got those two crucial birdies on the back nine and the key was the up and down on 17 after pushing his tee shot left adjacent to a spectator stand.
His chip from the drop zone was a little heavy, but despite the difficult shadows on his line as the clock ticked towards 8 pm, he made the putt for par.
The 18th was anti-climatic, as he took an iron off the tee and played short of the green, missing a putt for par he didn’t have to make.
The strong performance for the week won Kitayama one of the last three places in the 150th Open field available to high finishers.
The other went to American Brandon Wu – who qualified for Royal Portrush at Fairmont St Andrews in 2019 when an amateur – and Wales’ Jamie Donaldson.