Xander Schauffele won the 2024 PGA Championship in Louisville, Kentucky on Sunday afternoon after a disastrous weekend for the world’s top-ranking golfer, Scottie Scheffler.
Schauffele and Collin Morikawa ended with tied scores on Saturday but only maintained a narrow lead, forcing the two Americans to fend off those lower on the leaderboard on Sunday.
Morikawa faded amid challenges by DeChambeau and Viktor Hovland. The championship came down to the 18th hole, with the tied leaders, Schauffele and DeChambeau, hitting drives that landed short of the bunker and on its lip, respectively.
Schauffele dug himself out of disaster with a skilled stroke that put him near the green and near an opportunity to make birdie. He did it.
DeChambeau turned the tournament into a nail-biter during its last moments by tying for the lead with a slow-dropping birdie on the 18th hole.
Before that, he exploited luck by making the 16th hole in two strokes.
His drive veered off course but bounced back onto the fairway, giving him the chance for that two-stroke hole with about 4 feet to make it, which he did.
The performance put him second on the leaderboard in the last few holes of the last round.
Hovland also breached the top tier, emerging as a contender for the championship after putting up 5-under 66 on Saturday, surpassing Morikawa with a birdie earlier on Sunday, and at one point reaching 20 under par for the final day of the tournament.
Late in the day he emerged as the solo leader.
The Norwegian pro had been struggling but went on a run over the weekend at the Valhalla Golf Club. Last week he told reporters he took on well-known swing coach Joe Mayo to give his game new direction.
“I always like to improve and expand my knowledge,” he said after the tournament’s opening round on Thursday.
He also told SeriusXM PGA Championship Radio he considered withdrawing earlier in the tournament.
The 17th hole proved difficult for the day’s challengers, with DeChambeau missing a shot from 22 feet and Hovland missing a 9-foot birdie putt. Advantage Schauffele, who had posted par on 15.
It’s been a weekend of surprises on the green after Scheffler, who went in as the No. 1 golfer, was arrested on Friday outside the PGA Championship in Louisville, Kentucky. According to his attorney, Steve Romines, police officers investigating a fatal accident and those handling event traffic weren’t communicating effectively.
Scheffler was attempting to follow directions he was given but Romines said an “officer on a different unit took issue with Scottie following the directions he was given and subsequently placed him under arrest.” Scheffler was accused of dragging an officer with his car.
Romines described the incident as a misunderstanding. He said there are discussions about the charges possibly being dropped and that Scheffler is prepared to litigate the case if needed.
But it seems Scheffler couldn’t shake the incident from his mind as he bombed in Saturday’s round, fading early with no recovery. It ended his streak of 42 consecutive rounds at par or better.
Amid Scheffler’s struggle, the fierce competition of others shone through as a handful of players dominated the leaderboard just a few points apart and pushed perfect games from the golfers on Sunday if they wanted to take the win.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
