Xander Schauffele has now won twice in two starts before next week’s British Open. (Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)
For the second time in two starts, Xander Schauffele has come out on top.
After nearly taking a two-shot lead at The Renaissance Club in North Berwick, Scotland, Schauffele reunited with two birdies in his last five holes of the day to claim the Scottish Open.
“That was stressful. I’m not going to make up the pig here,” Schauffele told CBS. “It was a very normal day, probably my worst material this week … You really can’t get ahead in link golf. I was going ahead, going backwards, going forward, going backwards. I just went keep your head down “.
Schauffele stumbled in his late Saturday, hitting his last two holes of the day to card a 4 under 66. Although that coincided with the low round in what was a windy day at The Renaissance Club, and he gave a two-shot lead. The Spaniard Rafa Cabrera Bello, his leadership could have been much, much greater.
“He had pretty much everything underway,” Schauffele said after the third round. “I was judging the rebounds well and doing the putts I need and going up and down when I missed the green. Six birds up to 16, no complaints and a tough finish.”
While Schauffele opened Sunday with two birdies in a row to rebuild his lead, he made three bogeys in his last four holes to the nine forwards, which opened the door to the rest of the field.
Kurt Kitayama jumped to a part of the lead after finishing soon with a 4 under 66, and Joohyung Kim also got there with a couple of birds in his last three holes. Patrick Cantlay, Tommy Fleetwood and even Jordan Spieth, though briefly, also made strong pushes.
It was then, however, that Schauffele turned it back on. He made a birdie at number 14 and then sank an easy birdie after losing an eagle putt at par-5 16 to regain a two-shot lead. Despite landing just behind a sprinkler on par-3 17, Schauffele saved his pair to enter the last hole at two.
Schauffele narrowly missed his putt on the last hole after his approach fell close to the green, but it didn’t matter. He still left the course with a one-shot victory, which marked the seventh race of his PGA Tour.
The story goes on
Kitayama finished second with 6 more, and Kim finished third with 5 more during the week. Kitayama’s arrival earned him a spot at the British Open next week, as did Brandon Wu and Jamie Donaldson. Cabrera Bello, who started just two shots back, finished in T36 after throwing a 7-77 on Sunday.
Schauffele has won the Tour three times this season and reached his 12th top-25. He won the Zurich Classic in April before winning the Travelers Championship last month, which moved him to No. 11 in the official golf world rankings. He has now won in consecutive tournaments twice throughout his career and jumped to third place in the FedExCup standings.
Although next week in St. Andrews is certainly a much bigger challenge, Schauffele is playing as well as he could be heading to the last big championship of the season.
“I’m not sure if this is like a curse or something,” Schauffele said about entering the newly won British Open. “I will ignore all the media [much as] possible. There are a few guys [who] I like to talk about the story and everything, but I’m obviously in good shape and I’ll try to take it to next week. “