Scottie Scheffler Conquers the Open Championship at Royal Portrush
Scottie Scheffler secured the third leg of the Grand Slam of his career on Sunday, achieving a commanding victory with a four-stroke lead at the Open Championship held at Royal Portrush.
Scheffler joins a select group, being the fourth player in the history of the Open Championship to record rounds of 68 strokes or less in all four days of the tournament. The other members of this club are Collin Morikawa (2021), Henrik Stenson (2016) and Jesper Parnevik (1994).
The start of Scheffler’s final round was perfect. From the first cut of rough, his approach left the ball on the right side of the green, near the slope. The ball retreated and rolled to 10 inches from the hole, which secured him an easy birdie.
This year, Scheffler had already been crowned champion of the PGA Championship, with a five-stroke lead. The previous year, he took the Masters with a four-stroke difference and the 2022 Masters with three strokes. No player has won their first four major titles with a lead of three strokes or more.
Furthermore, he became the third golfer to win multiple majors by four or more strokes in the same year, following in the footsteps of Ben Hogan (1953: Masters, U.S. Open, The Open) and Tiger Woods (2000: U.S. Open, The Open).
The competition was marked by the enthusiasm of the public, although not all the applause was for him. The local fans showed unconditional support for Rory McIlroy, who was playing in his homeland, Northern Ireland. McIlroy started the round six strokes behind, needing his best performance in a major and a stumble by Scheffler, but ultimately finished seven strokes behind, tied for seventh place.
McIlroy, Masters champion, became the sixth player to complete the career Grand Slam earlier this year.
