The 2024 PGA Championship is in the books and we have a new major winner in the shape of Xander Schauffele.
In what was an eventful week of golf in more ways than one, here are five of the best talking points to emerge from this week's action.
Schauffele Finally Fulfills Talent to Land his First Major
For years Xander Schauffele has been one of the most consistent talents on the PGA Tour. A regular name at the top of the leaderboard, Schauffele has long had all of the skills to dominate the world of golf and all of those skills were on display as Schauffele dominated from tee to green.
Having gained a reputation for being the best golfer not to have won a major, Schauffele was finally able to get the monkey off his back with a superb front running display.
Sent out in one of the first groups of the week, Schauffele made the most of the generous scoring conditions and was able to tie the record for the lowest ever score in a major with a stunning -9, 62.
Heading into the second round leading by three, Schauffele was able to keep his lead intact until the back nine of the final round.
Having dropped a shot on the easy par 5 tenth hole, Schauffele responded with all of the class of a major champion by picking up birdies in his next two holes. With Bryson DeChambeau and Viktor Hovland applying the pressure, Schauffele headed up the final hole knowing that a birdie on the 18th would be enough to secure his maiden major title. Finding himself to the side of the green ahead of his third shot, he knocked his chip to six feet to leave himself with a testing putt.
Ensuring he took his time, he showed no signs of nerves as he rattled the ball into the center of the hole to cement his victory.
Now second in the world, Schauffele will hope to use this victory as a springboard to more majors. With his confident set to be at an all time high, few would bet against it.
Bryson DeChambeau Offers a Timely Reminder of his Talents, Concerns for Rahm?
For just the second time this season, golf fans were able to witness the best of the PGA take on the best from LIV. For the second major in succession it was the PGA Tour who ended up on top, but Bryson DeChambeau offered the world a fantastic reminder of his talents by narrowly missing out by just one stroke.
Although we associate DeChambeau with huge hitting, it was actually his chipping and scrambling that were on full display this past weekend with the LIV man ending the tournament ranked number one from off the green.
DeChambeau is easily one of the best golfers on the planet but currently finds himself ranked 35th in the world despite finishing 6th at the Masters and 2nd at the PGA Championship.
If it wasn’t for his 2020 US Open victory, DeChambeau’s place in the majors would be up for grabs due to his sliding world ranking. A man of his talents has to be competing in the majors and it's clear that the golfing aficionados need to get together to work on a solution.
Whilst DeChambeau was proudly waving the LIV flag, for the second major in succession Jon Rahm struggled to make an impact. After just making the cut at Augusta, Rahm’s run of eighteen successive majors came to an abrupt end as he failed to make the weekend.
It's emerging that Rahm’s decision to move to the Saudi funded tour was made on the premise that an agreement between the LIV and PGA Tour was close, however with the two parties currently locked in a stalemate, there seems to be no end to the stalemate in sight.
Despite a string of top ten finishes on the LIV Tour, Rahm seems to be missing the PGA Tour and his erratic form is nowhere near the level we have come to expect.
Whilst he can certainly turn it around, all eyes will be on the Spaniard ahead of the U.S and British Opens to see if he can get back to challenging alongside the world’s best players.
Scottie Scheffler Experiences Weekend Like no Other
Heading into last week, all eyes were on Scottie Scheffler as he bid for a second successive major following his victory at the 2024 Masters. After a solid start which saw him start his second round five shots behind leader Xander Schauffele, news started to break that Scheffler had been arrested whilst trying to get into the Valhalla property early on Friday morning.
WIth the sad news that a tournament volunteer had been injured in an incident outside the club, the police blocked the entrance to Valhalla and caught the world number one awards.
As he swerved through the traffic to make his way into the club, Scheffler and a policeman got into an altercation which ultimately led to the Texan getting arrested. Taken to a local police station, Scheffler had his mugshot taken and was due back to court on Tuesday to discuss the incident.
Despite warming up in the cozy confines of his jail cell, Scheffler showed exactly why he is the world’s best player when firing a brilliant five under round 66. Despite his second round heroics, he couldn’t go on to secure victory and would end up placing just inside the top ten.
Seemingly able to put the distraction of the weekend behind him, Scheffler’s ordeal with the police isn’t over with him due back in court in early June.
The Wait Goes on for Rory McIlroy
It was a strange seven days for Rory McIlroy. Victorious in the Wells Fargo Championship for a fourth time, it was announced in the build up to the PGA that McIlroy was to divorce from his wife and many were intrigued to see if he were able to put the distraction behind him and end his ten year wait for his fifth major.
Returning back to Valhalla where he won his fourth major over a decade ago, McIlroy got off to a hot start, ending his first round five under par, just four shots behind Xander Schauffle. Despite his great start, the next three rounds would end up being frustrating.
Unable to capitalize on a raft of opportunities, McIlroy was made to push and when pin seeking would go on to make some costly mistakes.
At the end of the fourth round it was yet another tournament where McIlroy would look back on missed chances. Seemingly unable to string four consistent rounds together, until McIlroy can cut out the mistake it still may be a while before he ends his long major wait.
Attentions Turn to U.S Open
We are in the middle of the major season and the third major of the year, the U.S Open is just a few weeks away.
With just two majors to be claimed, there are several players who will travel to Pinehurst in need of a change in fortune.
Greg Norman and LIV will be hoping that one of their players will be able to score another major championship for the Tour. So far just one LIV player has been able to secure a major whilst actively being on the Tour and that was Brooks Koepka over a year ago.
Whilst LIV will always have its fans, the majors allow LIV to cross over to the mainstream and if one of their players can win a major, it will bring great levels of exposure to the breakaway tour.
Rory McIlroy will have another opportunity to win a fifth major, whilst Xander Schauffele will be looking to prove that he has the class to be a multiple major winner.
Max Homa and Patrick Cantlay are two players who will be seeking to win the first majors of their careers and they hope that the 2025 US Open will provide the perfect platform for them to win.
Jack Hartman
A keen golfer and huge fan of the game, Jack has been covering golf for the last five years. Bringing you all the latest coverage and news from the PGA, LIV, LPGA and DP World Tours, never before has golf been so popular and Jack can’t wait to bring all the excitement to his readers.
