Golfbet Recap: Xander Schauffele captures his second major of season at Royal Troon

It was only a few months ago that he was being called the best player to haven't ever won a major championship. All of a sudden, Xander Schauffele is now a two-time major championship winner and the 2024 Champion Golfer of the Year.

Schauffele fired a masterful, bogey-free, final round 65 on Sunday at Royal Troon to win The 152nd Open. He entered the day tied with five other players at 3-under par, one shot off the lead held by Billy Horschel and was actually the overnight favorite at +350 to get the job done. And get the job done he did, slamming the door shut by coming home with a 31 on the inward nine.

Schauffele entered the week as a +1400 choice at BetMGM Sportsbook. He left, carrying the claret jug after recording a winning score of 9-under par over 72 holes.

Round-by-round odds for Xander Schauffele to win The Open (via BetMGM)

• Pre-tournament: +1400
• After Round 1 (T4, trailed by 4): +600
• After Round 2 (T7, trailed by 6): +1100
• After Round 3 (T2, trailed by 1): +350

For quite a while on Sunday, it looked like Schauffele's playing partner, Justin Rose, might be the one to win his second major championship. While Horschel had played his first three holes of the day at Even, Rose birdied the par-5 fourth hole to get to 5 under and grab sole possession of the lead. Horschel and his playing partner, Thriston Lawrence, then followed up with birdies of their own at No. 4 and we had a three-way tie for the lead with Schauffele sitting two shots off the pace.

Conditions were not easy on Sunday with the wind blowing steadily in the 15-20 MPH range. Eight of the 12 players finishing in the top 10 did shoot under par rounds on the final day. Schauffele waited until the sixth hole to make his first birdie of the day. But from there he made five more over his last 12 holes, without a single bogey. His 65 tied the low round of the entire tournament and gave the native San Diegan a relatively comfortable final few holes.

With four holes left to play, Schauffele had a two-shot lead and shortly after that, extended to a three-shot advantage. After a birdie at both Nos. 13 and 14, he was a -550 favorite. In the final pairing, Lawrence was two shots back and was +550 to make a game of it. Rose bogeyed No. 12 and was now +1600 to win it. Shane Lowry, the 36-hole leader, was all the way out to +5000 at this point.

We had seen and heard all week about players needing to go low on the outward nine and having to hang on for dear life coming home. Schauffele flipped the script on Championship Sunday and it made for a life-changing difference, firing a relatively stock 2-under 34 on the front side - and then coming home in a remarkable 4-under par. He made birdie at Nos. 11 and 13, two of the more difficult holes on the entire course. He lapped the field on the inward nine and cruised home as stress-free as final few holes of a major championship can be. A total of only seven players shot under par on the inward nine on Sunday.

Outright results from Golfbet Expert Picks

• Will Gray: Tony Finau (+4500) MC
• Ben Everill: Collin Morikawa (+1600) T16
• Chris Breece: Collin Morikawa (+1600) T16
• Matt DelVeccchio: Collin Morikawa (+1600) T16
• Rob Bolton: Scottie Scheffler (+550) T7
• Mike Glasscott: Rory McIlroy (+900) MC

Two of those were Rose and Horschel, who did finish in a flurry. Rose birdied two of the final three holes and Horschel did so on each of the final three holes. The two TOUR veterans each finished at 7 under and tied for second place. This is Horschel's best-ever finish in a major championship. It is the 11th time in his career that Rose has finished top-5 in a major.

American players have now won each of the four major championships this season for the first time since 1982. Schauffele closed out the sweep today by hitting 16 of 18 greens in regulation. For the week, he ranked second in this field for Strokes Gained: Approach. He was 19th in Driving Accuracy and 14th in Scrambling.

Apparently Schauffele has unlocked whatever was holding him back from winning major championships in the past. Maybe part of that is shooting a 65 on Sunday as not only was that the winning formula on Sunday at Royal Troon but it was a 65 that Schauffele shot at Valhalla in the final round back in May as well.

England's Matthew Jordan finishes exactly 10th in his second straight Open Championship and that earns him a trip to Royal Portrush in 2025, along with the underdog story of the week, Daniel Brown, who also tied for 10th. Lawrence will join them and also earns a trip to the Masters in 2025 with his fourth-place finish.

From here the chase for FedExCup and positioning for the Playoffs takes center stage. Schauffele moves to second on the points list with the win, trailing only Scottie Scheffler. Next week we land at the 3M Open in Minnesota, followed by the Olympics in Paris (where Schauffele will defend his gold medal from Tokyo) and then the final regular-season event, the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Results from Rob Bolton Sleeper Picks and Golfbet Insider

• Justin Rose to win (+15000) T2
• Sungjae Im Top 5 finish (+800) T7
• Akshay Bhatia Top 10 finish (+650) MC
• Matthieu Pavon Top 20 finish (+450) T50
• Matteo Manassero Top 40 finish (+200) T31
• Tiger Woods to make the cut (+220) MC
• Tom Kim Top 10 finish (+350) MC
• Cameron Young Top 10 finish (+400) T31
• Brooks Koepka Top 20 finish (+140) T43
• Corey Conners, Brian Harman and Adam Scott all make the cut (+160) T25/T60/T10
• Viktor Hovland, Tom Kim and Robert MacIntyre all make the cut (+125) MC/MC/T50
• Ernie Els Top 40 finish (+400) WD
• Emiliano Grillo Top 40 finish (+250) T43
• Rasmus Hojgaard Top 40 finish (+140) T60
• Matthew Jordan Top 40 finish (+200) T10
• Si Woo Kim Top 40 finish (+115) T43
• Matthieu Pavon Top French (+160) T50
• Victor Perez Top 20 finish (+500) MC

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