A relentless Scottie Scheffler sealed his first British Open triumph by four shots as he turned the final day of the tournament into a procession at Royal Portrush, Northern Ireland, on Sunday.
The 29-year-old American world No. 1 started out with a four-stroke lead and apart from one mid-round blip, never looked like relinquishing his iron-like grip as the chasing pack were left scrapping for minor places.
Scheffler resembled a towering giant amongst men all week on the glorious Causeway Coast, rekindling memories of 15-times major winner Tiger Woods in his pomp, and he rubber-stamped his fourth major title with a clinical final-round 68.
Photo: AFP
After tapping in for his par in front of a packed 18th green grandstand, Scheffler’s laser focus finally cracked and he threw his white cap skywards before hugging caddie Ted Scott and sharing a tearful embrace with his wife, Meredith, and son, Bennett.
“Thanks to the fans for all the support. I know I wasn’t the fan favorite today so I appreciate you guys coming out to support, overall it’s been a great week,” said the under-stated Scheffler, the third successive American to win the Open and fourth in five years, after lifting the Claret Jug.
Take the dominant Scheffler out of the equation and the 153rd Open would have been a thriller with the leaderboard underneath him chopping and changing all weekend.
Photo: USA Today/Mike Frey-Imagn Images
In the end, Harris English was the best of the rest on 13 under after a 66 with fellow American Chris Gotterup, winner of the Scottish Open earlier this month, a further shot back.
Huge galleries descended on the course all week and thousands arrived on a sunny Sunday hoping to witness a Rory McIlroy miracle.
However, Northern Ireland’s favorite sporting son, who began six shots behind Scheffler, was unable to mount a charge and ended up in a tie for seventh on 10 under along with last year’s champion Xander Schauffele and Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre.
Photo: EPA
“I wish I had have been closer to Scottie going into today and been able to make a real push,” said McIlroy, who completed his career Grand Slam by winning this year’s Masters, “but he’s been on a different level all week and he’s been on a different level for the last two years to the rest of us.”
Li Haotong, the first Chinese man to go out in the final group of a major, finished tied fourth on 11 under with England’s Matt Fitzpatrick and American Wyndham Clark.
Scheffler now has three legs of his career Grand Slam and needs a US Open crown to complete the set.
He is also the first player in more than 100 years to win his first four majors by three strokes or more and the first world No. 1 to win the Open since Tiger Woods in 2006.
“When you play against the best they make it look easy and you can’t quite figure out why they are so good,” said England’s Justin Rose, who finished on seven under.
“He is unconventional in some of his technique, but the golf ball doesn’t lie. He does everything really well and his record with a 54-stroke lead is Tiger-esque,” he said.
Those thinking or even hoping that Texas-based Scheffler might stumble on a layout featuring holes known as Calamity Corner and Purgatory should probably have known better.
On the last nine occasions Scheffler had gone into the final round of a PGA Tour event ahead, he emerged victorious. His three previous major wins also came after a 54-hole lead.
A sense of anticipation brewed as the leading groups reached the first tee, but when Scheffler birdied the first, fourth and fifth holes to move eight strokes clear, the only question seemed to be whether he could eclipse Wood’s modern era Open record winning margin of eight strokes at St Andrews in 2000.
Even when errors did creep in, he simply rolled in long par-saving putts on the sixth and seventh holes to crush the spirit of those hoping for an unlikely collapse.
Only when he double-bogeyed the eighth after failing to get out of a bunker did Scheffler look like a mere mortal, and his lead was suddenly sliced to four strokes.
However, it proved false hope for those pursuing a giant of golf, and a birdie at the ninth and another at the 12th hole steadied the ship.
All that needed deciding then was who would come second to golf’s undisputed powerhouse.
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