Scottie Scheffler's 2024 has been remarkable with six wins, including a Masters and a Players Championship, and top 10 finishes in three of the four majors. He's constructed one of the great statistical seasons in the last 25 years. That someone else has now put together a year that is even in the same stratosphere is truly remarkable.
Xander Schauffele won the second major of the year -- and second in three tries -- on Sunday as he captured the 2024 Open Championship at Royal Troon with an all-time performance. He shot a bogey-free 6-under 65 in the final round, tying for the best round of the week. With a Claret Jug on the line, he was simply flawless.
Schauffele's birdie at the hardest hole on the course, the par-4 11th, was emblematic of his tremendous performance. It was the only birdie on the hole all day, and he followed it with three more to shoot a back-nine 31. Schauffele called it, "The best round I've played."
It's bigger than that, though. Schauffele's 65 touched off one of the best major seasons ever played.
Xander Schauffele hits an exceptional approach for the FIRST birdie of the day on No. 11. 🔥😳
— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) July 21, 2024
📺: NBC & @peacock | #TheOpen pic.twitter.com/RYvo7aUL4V
Scheffler, who could only muster a 72 in his final round, was among the players Schauffele dusted on Sunday. And while it may not befit their season-long performances that Schauffele beat Scheffler for his second major this year and not the other way around, it does shine a light on the leap Schauffele has made in his career that he has put together a campaign as impressive as the one Scheffler has amassed -- especially given where they started.
While the total wins still tip toward Scheffler, consider that Schauffele, who has been around a 2.0-2.2 strokes gained guy for the last five years, is inching toward 3.0 this season. That's best-player-on-the-planet level.
The "strokes gained" statistic itself does not win majors, but championships tend to unveil what has been true over the long arc of a season, and what has been true for seven straight months of 2024 is that Schauffele is playing like someone who is the best player in the world.
When we look back on 2024, Scheffler's numbers will remain eye-popping. However, that should not -- and now will not -- obscure Schauffele putting together one of the great overall golf campaigns this century.
Winning two majors in a career is rare. Schauffele is just the 89th player in the history of golf to achieve that feat.
Winning two majors in the same year is an even more scarse achievement.
"It was hard," Schauffele said of the final round. "It was very difficult. I think winning the [PGA Championship] helped me a lot today on the back nine. I had some feeling of calmness come through. It was very helpful on what has been one of the hardest back nines I've ever played in a tournament.
"I mean, it's a dream come true to win two majors in one year. It took me forever just to win one, and to have two now is something else."
When the Masters began, there were only 28 instances of a golfer winning two majors in the same year; Schauffele has made it 29. He is also just the sixth golfer to win the PGA Championship and Open Championship in the same year -- the first since Rory McIlroy did it back in 2014.
Asked whether he belongs among those golfers as one of the great players of his generation, Schauffele refused to speculate, leaving that for the folks who analyze the game.
"I'm just trying to win as many of these things as I can and play the best golf as I can and be a decent guy," he said.
Sunday marked Schauffele's 13th consecutive top 25 finish worldwide and his 16th in 17 starts so far this year. Though he had played 27 majors before winning his first at the PGA, Schauffele had 12 top-10 finishes (44.4%) and six top-five finishes (22.2%) in those prior starts.
The golf from Schauffele has been stupendous. Adding his two major wins and a T7 at the U.S. Open in between, he has wins or top-10 finishes in 50% of his career major championship appearances.
Perhaps that is not enough to usurp what Scheffler has accomplished on the PGA Tour, but that it shines bright enough to even make you look away from Scheffler's sterling 2024 effort is astounding.
The instances of a golfer finishing in the top 10 of every major and winning two or more of them in the Masters era is a who's who list of players. Look at these names!
| Player | Year | Wins | Masters | U.S. Open | Open | PGA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arnold Palmer | 1960 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2nd | T7 |
| Gary Player | 1974 | 2 | 1 | T8 | 1 | 7th |
| Jack Nicklaus | 1975 | 2 | 1 | T7 | T3 | 1 |
| Tom Watson | 1977 | 2 | 1 | T7 | 1 | T6 |
| Tom Watson | 1982 | 2 | T5 | 1 | 1 | T9 |
| Tiger Woods | 2000 | 3 | 5th | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Tiger Woods | 2005 | 2 | 1 | 2nd | 1 | T4 |
| Jordan Spieth | 2015 | 2 | 1 | 1 | T4 | 2nd |
| Xander Schauffele | 2024 | 2 | 8 | T7 | 1 | 1 |
Schauffele has always been someone praised by his peers even if he did not have the hardware to match his game. Now he does, and the praise continues to roll in.
Justin Rose, who finished tied for second behind Schauffele and played with him on Sunday in the third-to-last game of the tournament, was effusive.
"A guy at the top of his game. A guy that has all the attributes that make him a great player and a great champion," said Rose of Schauffele. "I think probably one of his most unappreciated ones is his mentality. He's such a calm guy out there. I don't know what he's feeling, but he certainly makes it look very easy.
"He plays with a freedom, which kind of tells you as a competitor that he's probably not feeling a ton of the bad stuff. He's got a lot of runway ahead and a lot of exciting stuff ahead, I'm sure."
A lot of exciting stuff behind him, too. The debate over the best player in golf for 2024 will continue for the next few months: Scheffler or Schauffele, Schauffele or Scheffler?
What is certain: After everything Scheffler has accomplished over the last seven months, Schauffele turned "player of the year" into a real conversation might be the most impressive thing he has accomplished.
