Xander Schauffele says Scottie Scheffler is still the man to beat despite breaking his major duck at the PGA Championship and climbing to No2 in the world in the process.
American Schauffele had earned a reputation for struggling to get over the line when tournament pressure mounted but held off a host of challengers to card an event record 21-under par to win.
A six-foot birdie putt on 18 sealed the victory and fended off the challenge of Bryson DeChambeau, a shot back in second. Viktor Hovland had briefly threatened for the win but faded to 18-under for third while Ryder Cup teammates Shane Lowry and Justin Rose shared sixth four shots further back.
Scheffler, meanwhile, was eighth after bouncing back from his day two run-in with the local police.
Schauffele said: “All of us are climbing this massive mountain and at the top of the mountain is Scottie Scheffler. 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.”
Schauffele had enjoyed only the fourth 62 in major golf history on day one and held onto the lead to the final day.
Afterwards, he said: “I’m really proud of how I handled certain moments on the course today, different from the past. I was pretty nervous. I really didn’t want to go into a play-off with Bryson.”
