Xander Schauffele admitted that it was a relief to finally claim his first Major Championship without needing to go head to head with Bryson DeChambeau in a playoff – something he said would not have been “a whole lot of fun”.
DeChambeau had posted the target at 20-under to apply huge pressure on the man chasing his maiden victory in one of the coveted 'Big 4' events, but Schauffele showed terrific mental strength to get the job done by a single stroke, courtesy of a birdie on the last hole.
Afterwards, he offered a fascinating insight into what was going on in his head at various stages of what was an enthralling final day.
“Someone like me has pretty much tried everything, to be completely honest, that hasn't won in two years,” admitted the new World No.2, whose last win came at the 2022 Genesis Scottish Open.
“You try not to look at the leaderboards until the back nine, you try not to look at them early, you try not to look at them at all.
“Today I looked at them. I looked at them all day. I really wanted to feel everything. I wanted to address everything that I was feeling in the moment.”
On what was racing through his mind in the closing moments, he said: “I really did not want to go into a playoff with Bryson. Going up 18 with his length, it's not something that I was going to have a whole lot of fun with.
“If he tomahawks a draw off the water it's literally going to be like a driver, 9-iron maybe – you can ask him – 8-iron.”
After being comprehensively outplayed by Rory McIlroy the week prior, when the Northern Irishman overturned an overnight deficit to take the Wells Fargo title, Schauffele would have been wondering if history was about to repeat itself.
Viktor Hovland and DeChambeau made it a three-horse race down the stretch and Schauffele was forced to dig deep on more than one occasion, which made victory all the sweeter.
“I just kept telling myself I need to earn this, earn this and be in the moment, and I was able to do that,” said Schauffele, who faced a six-footer on the final hole to win – a putt that he wasn’t too convinced about.
“I was pretty nervous. I walked up, I saw a little left to right. I kept reading it, kept kind of panning,” he explained.
“Started to look right to left to me and I thought, ‘Oh, my gosh, this is not what I want for a winning putt. I ended up playing it straight. It did go left, caught the left side.
“When it lipped in, I don't really remember it lipping in, I just heard everyone roaring and I just looked up to the sky in relief.”
Not long after the final putt dropped for a 65, Schauffele was on the phone to his father, but he joked that the conversation became too emotional and he had to hang up.
“He was crying on the phone. It made me pretty emotional. I told him I had to hang up because I had to walk down,” said Schauffele, after claiming the Wananaker trophy. “I couldn't show up looking like the way I was.”
Describing his father as his mentor, he added: “My dad is referred to as the ogre, but he's a big teddy bear.
“Steve Stricker wins a tournament and he's crying. My dad is sitting there right on the couch crying with him. That's the kind of guy he is.”
Despite winning his first Major Championship and ridding himself of the ‘Best player never to have won a Major’ tag, Schauffele says there’s still just one player in the game that everyone has to chase.
“All of us are climbing this massive mountain. At the top of the mountain is Scottie Scheffler,” he said. “I won this today, but I'm still not that close to Scottie Scheffler in the big scheme of things.
“I got one good hook up there in the mountain up on that cliff, and I'm still climbing. I might have a beer up there on that side of the hill there and enjoy this, but it's not that hard to chase when someone is so far ahead of you.”
