Xander Schauffele has backed up his victory at the US PGA Championship with a two-shot triumph to win The Open at Royal Troon.
The American had started to be viewed as one of the sport's nearly men given the prolonged regularity of top 10s without getting over the line at a major, failing to build on his 2021 Olympic win.
However, the 30-year-old has now prevailed twice in three outings on the biggest stage, producing a faultless 65 on Sunday to edge out Justin Rose.
Having kept the pressure on his rivals during the opening 11 holes, Schauffele would birdie four of the remaining seven to pull away at the top of the leaderboard.
None of the chasing pack were able to respond, a bogey at 12 halting Rose's momentum before he ended in style with birdies at 16 and 18 to finish in a share of second.
Xander Schauffele is victorious at Royal Troon 🏆🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/LjxDIBXtcT
— Sky Sports Golf (@SkySportsGolf) July 21, 2024
Billy Horschel went one better, making birdies at the final three holes to join the veteran Englishman as joint runner-up, with South Africa's Thriston Lawrence having to settle for fourth despite a spirited charge on the front nine.
Who finished elsewhere?
Russell Henley and Shane Lowry would finish fifth and sixth respectively, but world number one Scottie Scheffler was in a share of seventh with Jon Rahm and Sungjae Im.
Daniel Brown, the Englishman and world number 272 who had spent much of the tournament in contention, eventually finished in 10th position, enough to earn a place in next year's tournament.
The same applies to Matthew Jordan, who qualified through that route 12 months ago, with Australia's Adam Scott completing the top 12.
Meanwhile, 2021 champion Collin Morikawa had to make do with 16th spot, while another former winner in Jordan Spieth was in 25th place.
Darren Plant
