Well, we tell you that things happen at the PGA Championship! This year’s edition of the golf workers’ specialty had more plot than a George RR Martin novel, and ended with an old-fashioned Kentucky photo finish. Fresh off one of the strangest and most exciting weeks of golf in recent memory (and that’s saying something because men’s golf has been extremely strange in recent years), we’re here to rank the winners and losers of four wild days in Valhalla. Golf Club. Take a moment to catch your breath and then dive into the full-blown barn fire that just took place in Kentucky.
Winner: Xander Schauffele
Coming into this PGA Championship, and seemingly every major championship, Schauffele was a nervous contender to win. In some ways, he was an obvious choice: He had 11 professional tour wins, 12 top-10 finishes in majors since 2017 and the established profile of a future major champion. He was looking to end his frustration.
On Thursday, he shot 62 in the first round, and yet he was hesitant. I had been so close so many times that I began to rudely wonder if the talented but often bewildered Schauffele had what it took to close the show on the big stage. I have never been happier to be proven wrong. Schauffele followed that 62 with back-to-back 68s on Friday and Saturday, and on the 72nd hole, he made a tricky 6-foot birdie to defeat the resurgent but still outsider Bryson DeChambeau and win the first major of his career. The scene was beatific; even Bryson congratulated him.
That’s what tradition tells. Now that Xander has crossed the threshold and navigated the “greatest player to never win a major” nightmare, I can see him doing more of this kind of thing. He has been released.
Winner: a roulette wheel from a leaderboard
All kinds of names appeared near the top of the leaderboard all weekend. Collin Morikawa stayed even in the final group until a day of errant putting finally finished him off. Shane Lowry scored his second 62 of the tournament on Saturday before fading early on Sunday. Viktor Hovland kept the Norwegian Valhalla dream alive until a costly double putt at no. 18. And Brooks Koepka loomed menacingly.
But it was Bryson DeChambeau who finally made things tense in the final round. DeChambeau, a consummate outsider who won the 2020 US Open with brute force and quickly exiled himself to LIV, has been, at times throughout his career, difficult to support. That may have changed this week. Operating with five wedges in his bag and a much more approachable demeanor, he came within a whisker of a well-earned second major title. Time and time again, he forgot to weaken himself with long-range magic and tricks. In a hectic week, he might have gained the most fans of all.
Winner-Slash-Loser: Scottie Scheffler
Scheffler, the world’s top-ranked men’s golfer and the most popular golfer in the world right now (not named Nelly Korda), arrived this week as a heavy favorite to back up his second victory at the Augusta Masters last month. He didn’t do that. But that’s not the same as saying he didn’t keep busy. Scheffler scored a -13 for the week, which included a 66 on Friday and a stellar 65 on Sunday. None of that is important. What is absolutely important is that he was the only player on the course who was arrested, fingerprinted and had his mugshot taken two hours before he was due to tee off in the second round, and then turned around and shot 7 under par in a surprisingly composed performance that surprised the golf world… and Scottie himself a little.
For those who don’t know: Early Friday morning, a tournament vendor was hit by a bus and killed outside of Valhalla. While police investigated the accident, the usual entry points to the club were closed. Scheffler was driving to begin his morning preparation routine when he encountered the commotion and basically chaos ensued. Police said they told Scheffler, who was allegedly driving in a center lane to try to avoid traffic, to stop. Scheffler says there was a misunderstanding because it was dark and raining. There is a lot of confusion about what happened next.
Some witnesses say Scheffler drove for a while in the median. The police report says he inadvertently dragged a Louisville police officer a few steps, ruining his pants. Friends: I wasn’t there and I don’t know. The point is that Scheffler was processed, returned to the course and then made a series of birdies. It was a truly shocking day.
Now the no. The world’s No. 1 golfer is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday morning at the Jefferson County Judicial Center. Although charges against him, including second-degree assault on a police officer and third-degree criminal mischief, may soon be dropped.
Winner: Valhalla Golf Club
Valhalla has its enemies in the underworld of nerd-golf gossip, but for the fourth time in four attempts to host the PGA Championship, the tournament’s finale was a thrill ride. Golf Digest does a good job here of laying out the arguments against the course’s value for major championships, from the eye-catching design to the overall feel of Phoenix Waste Management.
And yet.
There’s a unique choose-your-own-adventure feature in Jack Nicklaus’ setting that suggests the Golden Bear’s intuitive sense of drama. Four par 3s and a reachable par 5 on the 18th ended up designing another unforgettable finish. The winning score of -21 could be considered clumsy at the US Open, but in Valhalla it felt perfect. If this is the last major we see there for a long time, thanks for the memories.
Loser: Rory McIlroy’s decade of disappointment
Rinse, wash, repeat. Ten years ago, McIlroy won his last major championship, in this same tournament, on this same golf course. Since then, he has been a magnificent and often dominant player who just can’t seem to capitalize on the break that will ultimately secure his fifth great goal. A promising 66 in this week’s first round was followed by stellar but never sensational play, and two balls flushed in his nine nines on Sunday ensured he settled for a tie for 12th. If he arrived here, the place of his last great triumph, would it happen?
We all know the strengths of McIlroy’s game – his incredible ball-striking, high field management IQ and deep imagination – and this was evident over the past week. But for the 38th consecutive major, it wasn’t enough. A lot has happened to McIlroy in recent years, from passionate anti-LIV plays to key victories on the PGA Tour and close finishes to personal losses. This week it was announced that he and his wife, Erica Stoll, are divorcing. Now this too. There is always the next specialty. But will there be a next big victory?
Losers: tigers and tiger fans
Look: I’m a Tiger fan who resists the gates of hell. I do not tolerate any disagreement. So I take no pleasure in stating the obvious: this is the last, best golf (finishing 6 over par and missing a cut) we are likely to see from this man. He will continue to strengthen his broken body four or five times a year to prove that he can still do it, he will play some incredible holes and then he will retire from our eyes when the real golf begins.
This is what Tiger Woods is now. Having sacrificed his youth for our infinite emotions, he now sacrifices his middle age for the more modest ideas we have to accept about ourselves. In a way, he represents the most mercenary character in the most generous way of him. Maybe that’s not losing after all.
Keynote USA
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