Xander Schauffele holds off Bryson DeChambeau's Sunday charge to win PGA Championship at Valhalla
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (KDKA) -- After coming up just short numerous times, Xander Schauffele is a major champion after winning the PGA Championship on Sunday at Valhalla Golf Club.
Schauffele held off a Sunday charge from Bryson DeChambeau while breaking the record for the lowest score in a major champion at 21-under par.
Collectively, it was the lowest scoring PGA Championship history with the field shooting a combined -214, nearly 250 shots better than the previous low of +40 over par at Riviera in 1995.
Here are some of the best and biggest storylines of the week from Valhalla.
Schauffele goes wire-to-wire
The 30-year-old San Diego native had won numerous times on the PGA Tour including the 2016-17 Rookie of the Year and won while representing his country at the Ryder Cup and at the Olympics, but was still seeking that elusive first major championship win.
Schauffele led wire-to-wire at Valhalla, storming out to an early lead and tying the record for the lowest round score at a major when he carded a 62.
Entering the final round of the tournament tied for first with Collin Morikawa, Schauffele shot a 65 with just one blemish on his card with a bogey at the 10th hole.
On the 18th hole, Schauffele took the tee box in a tie with Bryson DeChambeau at -20 and needed a birdie to win his first major.
A slightly errant tee shot left him in less than ideal position but ultimately left a short approach shot to just over six feet, sinking the birdie to take home the Wanamaker Trophy.
Bryson's Sunday charge
Bryson DeChambeau came up just short in his quest for his second major title, having won the U.S. Open just over four years ago at Winged Foot.
DeChambeau gave it a stellar effort on Sunday as he shot a bogey-free round of 64 with animated celebrations as he made his charge up the leaderboard.
Four birdies on the back nine put DeChambeau in contention alongside Schauffele, but came up one shot shy of his second major championship.
While he didn't win the Wanamaker Trophy this week, Bryson did win himself some bonus points in the court of public opinion as a viral video surfaced on Sunday night.
DeChambeau was seen on video tossing a golf ball to a young boy as he walked off of the 9th green -- only to see that ball taken by an older man. Bryson stopped in his tracks as he saw what happened and made sure the ball was returned to its rightful target.
Scottie Scheffler's arrest
While the PGA of America would have preferred the biggest headlines of the weekend at Valhalla been about the golf, without question the biggest storyline was the world's #1 ranked player being put in handcuffs, arrested, and booked into jail just hours before the second round of the tournament was set to begin.
Scottie Scheffler was arrested early Friday morning while trying to make his way into Valhalla amid a flurry of police activity due to an unrelated deadly crash involving a pedestrian.
In what was called a 'misunderstanding,' Scheffler was arrested and accused of disregarding directions and instructions from a police officer while trying to make his way around road closures and traffic backups related to the crash.
Scheffler was taken to jail and booked on multiple charges, released, and made it back to Valhalla with enough time to warm up and make his 10:08 a.m. tee time that was pushed back alongside all other rounds due to the deadly crash.
"I did spend some time stretching in a jail cell – that was a first for me," Scheffler said after completing his Friday round, shooting a 66 after all was said and done.
Scheffler's third round 73 was a suboptimal one, ending his streak of 42 consecutive rounds under par. The over par round perhaps brings into the spotlight how understated and important the role of a caddie is as Scheffler played his Saturday round without Ted Scott on the bag, who missed the round to attend his daughter's high school graduation.
Sunday was a bounce back round for Scheffler with Ted Scott back alongside him.
Aside from an opening hole bogey, Scheffler had no other blemishes, making seven birdies en route to shooting a 65.
A hometown performance for the ages
For Justin Thomas, a trip back home helped make for a special week for Louisville's native son.
A bogey-free round of 68 on Sunday helped lead Thomas to a top-ten finish at Valhalla, where the crowd was in full support of him with loud cheers all day long.
Wanting to remain focused on the golf tournament this week and avoid distractions, Thomas told reporters that he went an extreme measure to do so -- by changing his phone number before heading back to his hometown.
"I hadn't in a while, and honestly, I felt like I just was—it was going to make my week a lot easier," Thomas said. "I just was like, I don't need to be distracted."
While changing his number might have helped with avoiding ticket requests and old friends reaching out, Thomas said that the week exceeded his expectations all around.
The home cooking and atmosphere helped propel Thomas to his first top-ten finish in a major since he won at Southern Hills in 2022.
Rory's drought continues
Another major tournament has come and gone has and has become yet another addition to the ongoing list that is Rory McIlroy's major drought.
This August will mark a full ten years since Rory McIlroy last won a major, should he not be victorious at Pinehurst next month or Royal Troon in July.
Since he last won a major in 2014 at Valhalla in the PGA Championship (which used to be played in August, but is now played in May), McIlroy has had a number of close calls in majors, including 2nd at the U.S. Open last year, and 2nd at the Masters and 3rd at the Open Championship in 2022.
Tiger misses the cut
When Tiger Woods is on the course, there's a sense of excitement surrounding a golf tournament. We're five years removed from Woods' remarkable win at the 2019 Masters and he's certainly not the same golfer he was prior to his horrific crash in Los Angeles in 2021.
But with all that said, when he plays, people are excited. On the heels of his record 24th straight cut made at this year's Masters, there was hope for another major tournament where Tiger was in the hunt -- but that ultimately wasn't the case at Valhalla.
Tiger's opening round 72 was relatively uneventful and early on during his second round on Friday, things started to fall apart.
A triple bogey on #2, a bogey on #3, and a triple bogey on #4 sent Tiger from +1 over par to +8 over par just four holes into the round.
A few birdies were out there for Woods, but he was never able to rally back, missing the cut at +7.
We will see Tiger Woods next month at Pinehurst after the USGA granted the 15-time major champion 3-time U.S. Open champion a special exemption into the tournament.
No Cinderella moment this year for Michael Block
Last year at Oak Hill, Michael Block went from a nobody to a somebody in just four days time.
Block made the cut into the weekend and Oak Hill, got to play with Rory McIlroy, and even made a hole-in-one. This year at Valhalla, it was a tough showing for the man who came to be known as 'Blockie.'
An opening hole bogey may have just been the precursor what was about to happen next -- as Block carded a snowman, a quadruple bogey on the second hole of the tournament.
In what many dubbed a 'one of us' moment when amateurs can relate to the pros, Block was sitting just short of the green in two shots on the Par 5 2nd hole.
Four chip shots later, Block was finally putting, tapping in his second putt for the snowman.
Over the next 34 holes, Block was never able to rally back below +5 over par.
Pinehurst No. 2 awaits next month
Up next on the PGA Tour calendar, we have the Charles Schwab Challenge, the RBC Canadian Open, and the Memorial, but when it comes to the next major, we're just over three weeks away from the start of the 124th U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2.
This year's U.S. Open at Pinehurst will be the 4th time the resort hosts what is often referred to as golf's toughest test.
Last time the U.S. Open was held at Pinehurst was in 2014 when Martin Kaymer won the event by eight shots.
This year's tournament will mark 25 years since Payne Stewart won his second U.S. Open at Pinehurst, just four months before he tragically died in a plane crash.
The opening round of the U.S. Open will get underway on Thursday, June 13.
