Scottie Scheffler won his first Open Championship, his fourth career major
Scottie Scheffler (photo AP, via LaPresse)
golf
He triumphed with 17 shots under par, completing the last round in 68 shots, without hesitation, with the lucidity of someone who knows that to win you need to repeat simple gestures when everything around you becomes complicated.
The other day, on these pages, we spoke of his calm, his swings with impassive mechanics, his precision without noise or shadow . Today at Royal Portrush , Scottie Scheffler won his first Open Championship, the fourth major of his career , presumably in a long series, with the same pace as a Sunday stroll, seven shots ahead of his pursuers at one point in the day, and the feeling that no one could truly stop him from lifting the Claret Jug .
He triumphed with 17 under par, completing the final round in 68, without hesitation, with the clarity of someone who knows that to win you need to repeat simple gestures when everything around you becomes complicated. And he did so, leaving behind Harris English, four shots behind, and Chris Gotterup, who finished 12 points behind. Behind him were Fitzpatrick, Clark, Haotong Li, and then further down McIlroy , MacIntyre, and Schauffele, all gathered in that handkerchief between 11 and 10 points that reflects a tournament that was hard-fought but never truly uncertain. Bryson DeChambeau closed with an extraordinary final 64, the best round of the day, a run too late to worry Scheffler, but enough to remind him that, with a different start, there would have been no chance for anyone.
There was a moment, around the 12th, when the wind seemed to be shuffling the cards, and the crowd on the dunes rose as if sensing a reversal. But nothing changed. After a double bogey, perhaps intended to spice up the plot, Scheffler responded with a birdie on the 13th, then contained the finish with the coolness of someone who has built this success one shot at a time.
At Royal Portrush, where five years ago McIlroy lost everything on the first hole in front of a home crowd, another chapter in golf history has been written. The Claret Jug, which by tradition cannot be taken home by the winner but remains in the custody of the R&A, has found a new name to be engraved at the bottom of the list begun in 1872. History buffs remember that here, on these greens swept by the Atlantic winds, Bobby Locke, Peter Thomson, and Tom Watson have also played.
It's not American golf that's consolidating, but Scottie Scheffler who's confidently advancing in his increasingly distinct dominance. Four majors won in the last three years, a consistency that puts him in a league of his own. His golf isn't about spin, but about consistency, and today more than ever, with a thrilling end to the season and my team's next year awaiting, it seems no one has yet found a way to stop him.
More on these topics:
ilmanifesto
