Xander Schauffele has been crowned the newest champion of the British Open.
“Oh man, thank you everybody,” Schauffele, 30, said on Sunday, July 21, per The Open’s official X account. “I’d like to thank my entire family, my team, everyone on my team, they know who they are. It’s been quite a journey. I feel very honored.”
He continued, “Hearing your name called with Open Champion right after is something I’ve dreamt of for a very long time.”
Schauffele noted that all players feel “very honored” to partake in the 152nd British Open at Royal Troon in Scotland. He gushed that the fans have made Scotland feel like a “second home,” adding, “I can’t wait to come back.”
The win on Sunday marked Schauffele’s second victorious major of the year. (Schauffele previously won the PGA Championship in May at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky.)
“It’s a dream come true to win two majors in one year,” he said, per AP News. “It took me forever just to win one, and to have two now is something else.”
Schauffele noted that winning the first “helped” him Sunday 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,” he said.
Xander Schauffele Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images
Schauffele’s victory became the seventh consecutive major win by an American golfer. This is the longest streak since there were 13 wins in a row from 1974 to 1977.
This is the first year since 1982 that all four majors were won by U.S. golfers. (Scottie Scheffler won the Masters in April and Bryson DeChambeau claimed the U.S. Open in June in addition to Schauffele’s two titles.)
If you thought watching golf was riveting, prepare to take a swing at the drama away from the course. In the middle of the 2024 PGA Championship, held at the Valhalla Golf Course in Louisville, Kentucky, sports fans were surprised to learn Scottie Scheffler was detained hours before round two of the tournament took place […]
Schauffele also became the first golfer since Brooks Koepka to win two majors in one season. (Koepka, 34, previously won the U.S. Open and PGA Championship in 2018.)
Schauffele achieved his first PGA Tour victory in 2017 and earned a spot in the Open Championship. He was awarded Rookie of the Year by his golfing peers at the end of the season.
While he did not play as well as expected in his first Masters appearance in 2018, Schauffele made a comeback the next year. In April 2019, he tied for second place and ended one stroke behind Tiger Woods.
Through it all, Schauffele has had his wife, Maya Lowe Schauffele, by his side. The twosome tied the knot in July 2021 after seven years of dating.
