Xander Schauffele celebrates 2024 Open Championship victory as Justin Rose falls short - 'Something I've dreamed of'
Updated 21/07/2024 at 20:40 GMT+1
American dominance of golf in 2024 continued on Sunday afternoon, when Xander Schauffele held off a strong challenge from Justin Rose to lift the 152nd Open Championship at Royal Troon. The 30-year-old has two majors to his name this year, having already won the US PGA Championship, and said winning the prestigious tournament was "something I dreamed of."
'To have two is something else' - Schauffele revels in winning second major at Open
Video credit: SNTV
Xander Schauffele won the 152nd Open Championship at Royal Troon on Sunday, resisting a challenge from Justin Rose.
For Schauffele, it means that he has now won The Open and the US PGA Championship in the same year, a feat last managed by Rory McIlroy in 2014.
On the final day’s play, Schauffele posted a six-under 65 to finish nine-under, two shots clear of Rose and overnight leader Billy Horschel.
Rose shot 67 alongside his playing partner in a tense finale to what had been an exacting week for both players.
Three birdies from Rose on his first seven holes had given the 43-year-old Englishman the lead for a brief period on six-under, but Schauffele responded with five birdies in nine holes.
Horschel finished joint-second alongside Rose after a three-under 68.
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"Oh man,” Schauffele said. "Hearing your name called with 'Open champion' after, it is something I've dreamed of for a very long time.
"I actually watched the highlights of Phil and Henrik [when Henrik Stenson defeated Phil Mickelson at Troon in 2016] to motivate myself for this week and I guess that paid off pretty nice."
Rose said he was proud of doing an “awesome job” during the week.
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'Gutted when I walked off the course' - Rose reflects on Open near miss
Video credit: SNTV
He said: "When I walked off the course it hit me. The dream's been alive all week and I felt that I did an awesome job of coming out and really getting amongst it from the word go.
"I got off to a strong start and felt like I played my way into the tournament.
"I saw glimpses of my name at the top of the leaderboard at times, did some of the hard work on the back nine, but Xander got that momentum.”
He praised Schauffele, adding: "He's an ice-cold competitor and one of the best players in the world, and it was tough to keep up.
"This will be a tough one but a great one. I played in some of the hardest weather all week. I played some of the best golf, but it didn't quite add up to the trophy."
Schauffele is the only player to finish in the top 10 of each of The Masters, PGA Championship, US Open and The Open in 2024, winning the latter two.Â
Schauffle's victory means that with Bryson DeChambeau lifting the US Open and Scottie Scheffler claiming Masters glory, each of the four Majors in 2024 was won by an American golfer - the last time that happened was in 1982*.
The Open champion will now turn his focus to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, and he will head to Le Golf National as the defending champion following his gold medal in Tokyo three years ago.
(*Americans won The Masters, US Open and PGA Championship in 2020, but The Open was not held due to the Covid-19 pandemic).
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