PGA Championship 2024: Xander Schauffele Secures First Major Victory

A Weekend of Records and Rivalries

Schauffele's journey to the Wanamaker Trophy was nothing short of cinematic. The California native faced challenges, including crucial shots with mud-laden golf balls and a nerve-wracking bunker shot Sunday on the 17th just to stay in contention. 

DeChambeau's efforts to clinch the title added to the weekend's electrifying atmosphere. It's quite honestly a shame that we don't get to see him on the PGA Tour each weekend. His energy and intensity were on full display during the final round and are certainly unmatched.

While it's not the time or the place to get too deep in the weeds about the ongoing saga in professional golf, let's just leave it at this: watching golf on Sunday afternoon is better when someone is bringing this kind of energy to the table.

"Yeah, I mean, I gave it my all. I put as much effort as I possibly could into it and I knew that my B game wouldn't be enough. It's just clearly somebody played incredibly well. Xander's well deserving of a major championship and, yeah, emptying the tank, I certainly love to do that and give the fans everything I can." 

What more do you want from someone in contention on Sunday afternoon? Some bands play great music but lack stage presence, not DeChambeau.

"Yeah, it's actually funny, YouTube has helped me understand that a little bit more. When the moment comes, knowing what to do, what to say, how to act is really important. You know, when I was younger I didn't understand what it was. Yeah, I would have great celebrations and whatnot, but I didn't know what it meant and what I was doing it necessarily for. Now I'm doing it a lot more for the fans and for the people around and trying to be a bit of an entertainer that plays good golf every once in a while."

Despite his valiant effort and crowd-pleasing fist pumps, it was Schauffele's closing birdie that ultimately wrote the day's headline, a moment that was made for the history books.

The Road to Victory

Schauffele, known for his laid-back demeanor, shared insights into his mental game that propelled him to victory. 

"I just kept telling myself that -- just weather the storm. I knew that birdies had to be made, so there was some sort of aggression that I knew coming into today. It wasn't like a tournament round where I could kind of sit back and shoot 2- or 3-under. It just wasn't going to be enough. I knew that I needed to have some pace on my putts, some more aggressive lines coming into pins."

Weather the storm he did. 

Entering the final round of the PGA Championship in the final pairing, Schauffle found himself in familiar territory on Sunday. You only have to look back one week to find a similar storyline.

Just last week, the Olympic Gold Medalist found himself entering Sunday's final round at Quail Hollow with a lead that held until a couple of compounded mistakes and some stellar play from Rory McIlroy on the back nine eventually led to Schauffle finishing in second and letting what looked like his first win of 2024 slip away.

"I mean, I actually used last week as sort of fuel." Schauffle shared following his first Major Tournament victory, 

Despite his lone bogey on Sunday that came on the 10th hole, Schauffele worked around a few errant tee shots but managed to ultimately secure victory.

What a weekend at Valhalla.