Xander Schauffele wins first major title

Schauffele emerges victorious in the USA PGA Championship at Valhalla to claim his first career major title ahead of the upcoming Genesis Scottish Open.

Over the last few days, Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky has been playing host to the USA PGA Championship. Some of the biggest names in the world of golf have won this tournament over the years, including the likes of Brooks Koepka, Phil Mickelson, Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas, and Tiger Woods.

Woods is currently second in the all-time winners chart in this tournament with 4 in all. His wins came in 1999, 2000, 2006 and in 2007. It is Walter Hagen and Jack Nicklaus who jointly hold the most career wins in the USA PGA Championship with 5 each.

Starting with Hagen, his wins came in 1921, 1924, 1925, 1926, and 1927. What is of course notable about his success is that he won this Championship on four consecutive occasions between 1924 and 1927.

As for Jack Nicklaus, his five triumphs throughout his illustrious career came in 1963, 1971, 1973, 1975, and 1980.

We now fast forward to May 2024, which saw the latest iteration of the US PGA Championship take place. This year’s Championship took place over the course of four days, from Thursday 16th to Sunday 19th May 2024. The prize money stood at no less than $18.5 million (£14.56 million).

This major championship forms part of the build up to the upcoming Genesis Scottish Open at the iconic Renaissance Club in North Berwick. Xander Schauffele is one of the players taking part in this tournament, and his preparations for it continued at Valhalla.

Schauffele officially took the lead of the US PGA Championship in round one when he shot 62 – equalling the best round at a major tournament. The American managed to hang on to his lead going into the final day.

However, his lead disappeared at one point on Sunday when Norway’s Viktor Hovland produced six birdies from eight holes. Thankfully for Schauffele, he responded in the most positive way possible, collecting two birdies of his own on the 11th and 12th holes – this saw him re-claim the lead that he had possessed for so long.

Matters got tense for him once again when another contender, Bryson Dechambeau, got birdies on the 16th and 18th holes to draw level with Schauffele. Hovland then failed to keep up with the leaders, and finally, at the 18th hole, Schauffele got another birdie which ended up handing him his first career major championship title.

In the end, Xander Schauffele triumphed at 21 under par. He was closely followed by runner-up Dechambeau on 20 under par, whilst Hovland ended up in third place with 18 under par in the end.

With the start of the 2024 Genesis Scottish Open drawing ever closer, the US PGA Championship at Valhalla proved to be excellent preparation for what is to come at the Renaissance Club in July.

Schauffele and Hovland are amongst the players who are set to take part in the Scottish Open, as are the likes of Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood, Matt Fitzpatrick, Justin Rose, Ludvig Aberg, Robert MacIntyre, Tom Kim and Justin Thomas.

The 2024 Scottish Open is set to capture the imagination of golf players and fans alike when it returns in July. The tournament will be taking place over four days from Thursday 11th to Sunday 14th July 2024.

The aforementioned Rory McIlroy is the most recent winner of this tournament, having done so by a margin of just one stroke ahead of Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre back in 2023. This year, McIlroy will be competing to win the Scottish Open for the second consecutive time.

As for Xander Schauffele, he himself is no stranger to winning this tournament, having done so in 2022 after he got the better of runner-up Kurt Kitayama by a margin of 1 stroke.

Excitement and anticipation are growing rapidly ahead of the start of the 2024 Genesis Scottish Open at the Renaissance Golf Club on Thursday 11th July 2024.

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