American Xander Schauffele birdied the final hole to win the PGA Championship by one shot over LIV Golf’s Bryson DeChambeau at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky, on Sunday to claim a long-awaited first major title.
Schauffele, playing his 28th career major, put the finishing touches on a wire-to-wire victory at Valhalla with a six-under-par 65 that left him at 21 under on the week. The win also moved Schauffele to a career-best second in the world rankings.
Needing a closing birdie for the win, Schauffele’s tee shot at the 18th perched up on the edge of a fairway bunker and forced him to take a compromised stance inside the hazard for his second shot, which he left just in front of the green.
A stone-cold Schauffele then displayed nerves of steel as he chipped to six feet from where he slammed the door by draining the biggest birdie of his career for the lowest winning score to par at a major championship.DeChambeau carded a bogey-free seven-under-par 64 to finish two shots ahead of Viktor Hovland (66), whose spirited effort to become the first Norwegian to win a major came undone at the final hole.
DeChambeau and Hovland were playing in the third-to-last pairing and set up pressure-packed 10-foot birdie putts on the final hole. DeChambeau drained his but Hovland’s effort curled away and he went on to make bogey and finish third.
That left the outcome in the hands of Schauffele, who was playing the par-four 17th where he did well to save par after his tee shot caught a fairway bunker before sealing the deal at the 18th while DeChambeau watched it unfold on a nearby screen.
DeChambeau handled the defeat with the utmost class as the 2020 US Open champion, who had been warming up in anticipation of going to a three-hole aggregate score playoff, took time to find Schauffele and congratulate him.
Victory at Valhalla. #PGAChamp | @XSchauffele pic.twitter.com/kX6DUcsErY
— PGA Championship (@PGAChampionship) May 20, 2024
Source: SABC
In other news – Vusi Nova under fire over R170 000 debt
Well-known Mzansi singer, Vusi Nova reacts to reports of owing of R170 000. The South African musician was booked to perform at last year’s Cherry Festival in Ficksburg and was paid an upfront of the above-mentioned fee.
However, he failed to pitch due to an accident; he refunded the complete money to the organizers and apologized. Read more
