Special to Sports News Highlights

(SNH) — Coming into last week’s PGA Championship, 30-year-old Xander Schauffele had eight straight top-20 finishes in the majors.

That was the most on the PGA Tour and no wins. That was until last week’s record-setting performance at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville.

Schauffele blistered the course in the opening round with a 62, the lowest in PGA Championship history. It also tied for the lowest score ever in a major, which he did last year in the U.S. Open before fading to tie for 10th.

In 2018 at The Open Championship, he shot a final round 74 to tie for second, and in 2021 he shot a final round 72 to tie for third at the 2021 Masters. He came up short of winning that elusive first major championship.

Not this time. No way he was letting hit happen again. This was his time.

Schauffele led wire-to-wire at Valhalla last week to claim his first-ever PGA Championship, the first major in his career.  It’s a life and career changer for any golfer. They all tell you that you’re in a different category.

“A lot of guys would dwell on all these close calls, but I didn’t see it from him,” said Schauffele’s caddie, Austin Kaiser, who has been through all the close calls. “Last week he shook my hand on 18 after Rory beat us (Wells Fargo Championship) and he goes, “We’re gonna win one of these soon, dude.”

Schauffele’s intuition came true one week later after winning the PGA.

After the opening round 62, Schauffele was simply consistent and sure on what he did the rest of the way to the winner’s circle on the 18th green Sunday. He dropped a 6 ½ foot birdie putt to win by one shot over Bryson DeChambeau.

Schauffele carded a pair of 68s in rounds two and three before closing with a 65. A record 4.95 million viewers tuned in for the final round on Sunday, which was up 10% from last year when Brooks Koepka won at Oak Hill.

I was one of those viewers and the final couple of holes were captivating. I couldn’t take my eyes of any of the shots taken by Schauffele or DeChambeau.

On the 18th, Schauffele put his drive to the edge of a bunker on the left side of the fairway. From there, he was forced to stand in the bunker, with the ball a good foot to a foot-and-a-half above his feet. But he took his time, focused and crushed his second shot right in front of the green to set up his third shot. It was a third shot, a chip shot, that set up Schauffele for the clinching and winning 6 ½ foot birdie putt.

The putt was every golfer’s dream. You make it and you win a major championship. And Schauffele did just that. The putt hit the left edge of the cup, rolled halfway around and dropped as Schauffele recorded the lowest score ever in a major, 21 under par. Yes, 21 under par.

The dream was complete and a reality for Schauffele. He’s now a major champion, the second major champion of the 2024  PGA Tour season, as Scottie Scheffler won The Masters in April at Augusta National.

“All those close calls for me, even last week (finishing second at Wells Fargo), that sort of feeling, it gets to you at some point, it just makes this even sweeter,” said Schauffele after his victory in front of the media gathering at Valhalla.

And for Schauffele, his first major championship is by far the sweetest to this point of his young career.

Nelly Korda wins again, yes, again

Last week on the LPGA Tour at Liberty National Golf Club in New Jersey at the Mizuho Americas Open, Nelly Korda was back in a very familiar position: hoisting the championship trophy over her head on the 18th green for the sixth time in her last seven starts.

Mind boggling. She’s that good. She’s that dominant. She’s the best on the LPGA Tour.

Korda won for the sixth time in seven starts by one shot over Hannah Green, who shot 2-under par in the final round. Korda on the other hand, didn’t have her A- game in Sunday’s final round, but it was still enough to get the victory.

She made three bogeys and just one birdie on the front nine. The two women made the turn to the back nine and were tied atop the leaderboard.

As she has done all season, Korda found a way to win, finishing one shot better than Green, at 14 under. Korda shot 1-under par in the final round.

The turning point on the back nine for Korda was when Green’s drive found trouble leading to a bogey on the par-4 closing hole of the tournament. Korda needed just to make par to earn the victory, which she did, for the sixth time in seven starts.


“There’s something special about the grind of not having your best stuff and then still mentally being able to pull it off,” Korda said. “I just think that there is no greater thing than to battle it out when you don’t have your best stuff.”

The World No. 1 Korda has now won 75 percent of her starts this season, with six wins in eight starts.

With the win, Korda joins Hall of Famers Babe Zaharias, Louise Suggs and Lorena Ochoa as the only women to win six times on the LPGA Tour before June 1.

Korda’s next start and opportunity to continue her dominance will come in two weeks at the U.S. Women’s Open in Lancaster, Penn., at the Lancaster Country Club.

Follow Sports News Highlights on Facebook and X platform to get our headlines in your social feeds.

Copyright 2024 Sports News Highlights. All rights reserved.