Scottie Scheffler cruises to first British Open crown
The 29-year-old American world No. 1 started out with a four-stroke lead and apart from one blip, it never looked like he would relinquish his iron-like grip on the chasing pack.
Scheffler resembled a towering giant among men all week on the glorious Causeway Coast, rekindling memories of 15-time major winner Tiger Woods as he rubber-stamped his fourth major title with a clinical final-round 68.
After tapping in for par in front of a packed grandstand on the 18th green, Scheffler's focus finally cracked, and he threw his white cap skywards, tearfully embracing caddie Ted Scott and wife Meredith and scooping up his toddler son Bennett.
"Thanks to the fans for all the support," Scheffler, the third consecutive American to win the British Open and fourth in five years, said after lifting the Claret Jug. "I know I wasn't the fan favorite today, so I appreciate you guys coming out to support, overall it's been a great week."
Take the dominant Scheffler out of the equation, and the 153rd British Open would have been a thriller with the leaderboard underneath him chopping and changing all weekend.
In the end, Harris English was the best of the rest at 13-under after a 66, with fellow American Chris Gotterup, winner of last week's Scottish Open, another shot back.
Huge galleries descended on the course all week, and thousands arrived on a sunny Sunday hoping to witness a Rory McIlroy miracle.
But Northern Ireland's favorite sporting son, who began six shots behind Scheffler, was unable to mount a charge and ended up in a tie for seventh at 10-under along with 2024 champion Xander Schauffele and Scotland's Robert MacIntyre.
"I wish I had have been closer to Scottie going into today and been able to make a real push," said McIlroy, who completed his career Grand Slam by winning this year's Masters.
"But he's been on a different level all week, and he's been on a different level for the last two years to the rest of us."
Li Haotong, the first Chinese man to go out in the final group at a major, finished tied for fourth at 11-under with England's Matt Fitzpatrick and American Wyndham Clark.
Scheffler now has three legs of the career Grand Slam and needs a U.S. Open crown to complete the set.
He is the first player in more than 100 years to win his first four majors by three strokes or more and the first world No. 1 to win the British Open since Woods in 2006.
"When you play against the best they make it look easy, and you can't quite figure out why they are so good," said England's Justin Rose, who finished at 7-under.
Those who thought the Texas-based Scheffler might stumble on a layout featuring holes known as Calamity Corner and Purgatory should probably have known better.
On the last nine occasions Scheffler went into the final round of a PGA Tour event ahead, he emerged victorious. His three previous major wins also came after a 54-hole lead.
A sense of anticipation brewed as the leading groups reached the first tee but when Scheffler birdied the first, fourth and fifth holes the only question seemed to be whether he could eclipse Woods' modern-era British Open-record winning margin of eight strokes at St Andrews in 2000.
When he double-bogeyed the eighth after needing two attempts to escape a bunker, his first dropped shots since the 11th hole on Friday when his majestic 64 put him in control, Scheffler looked like a mere mortal.
His lead was suddenly sliced to four strokes, but any hope proved to be an illusion for his pursuers, and a birdie at No. 9 and another on the 12th hole steadied the ship.
Perhaps the only person who might have competed with Scheffler over the weekend was compatriot Bryson Dechambeau. He matched Scheffler's tournament-low 64 on Sunday to rocket up to 10th at 9-under, an incredible finish after an opening-round 78.
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No one has held it longer since Woods. Scheffler and Woods are the only players in the last 50 years to win two majors in the same year by at least four shots. Researchers with time on their hands at the PGA Tour discovered that Scheffler and Woods each went 1,197 days between winning their first and fourth majors. Enough of the comparisons, Scheffler said. 'I still think they're a bit silly,' he said. 'Tiger won, what, 15 majors? This is my fourth. I just got one-fourth of the way there. I think Tiger stands alone in the game of golf. He was inspirational for me growing up. He was a very, very talented guy, and he was a special person to be able to be as good as he was at the game of golf.' For majors alone, a better comparison would be with Rory McIlroy. He also won four majors in three years, including two of them in 2014. McIlroy won a U.S. Open and a PGA Championship by eight shots, the latter a record margin. And then he went 11 years without a major. 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