Xander Schauffele has already won twice in two starts ahead of next week’s British Open. (Kevin S. Cox/Getty Images)
For the second time in two starts, Xander Schaufele came out on top.
After nearly blowing a two-shot lead at The Renaissance Club in North Berwick, Scotland, Schaufele rallied with two birdies in his final five holes of the day to win the Scottish Open.
“That was stressful. I’m not going to put makeup on the pig here,” Schaufele said on CBS. “It was a very average day, probably my worst day this week… You really can’t get ahead of yourself at Links Golf. I was ahead, I was behind, I was ahead, I was behind. I just kept my head down.”
Schaufele stumbled in his final on Saturday, bogeying his final two holes of the day to post a 4-under 66. While that matched the low round on a windy day at The Renaissance Club, it gave him a two-stroke lead over Spain’s Rafa Cabrera Bello , his lead could have been much, much larger.
“Pretty much everything was going,” Schaufele said after the third round. “I was judging the bounces well and hitting the shots I needed to and getting up and down when I missed the green. Six birdies to 16, no complaints and a tough finish.’
While Schaufele opened with two even birdies on Sunday to regain his lead, he made three bogeys in his final four holes on the front nine – which opened the door for the rest of the field.
Kurt Kitayama jumped into a share of the lead after closing early with a 4-under 66, and Joohyung Kim also got there with a pair of birdies in his final three holes. Patrick Cantlay, Tommy Fleetwood and even Jordan Spieth – albeit briefly – all made strong pushes as well.
But then Schaufele turned it on again. He birdied No. 14 and then sank an easy birdie after missing an eagle putt on the par-5 16th to regain a two-shot lead. Despite landing just behind a sprinkler head on the par-3 17th, Schaufele saved his par to enter the final hole two up.
Schaufele narrowly missed his money putt on the final hole after his approach landed just short of the green, but it didn’t matter. He still left the course with a one-shot victory, marking his seventh career PGA Tour victory.
The story continues
Kitayama finished tied for second at 6-over and Kim tied for third at 5-over for the week. Kitayama’s finish earned him a spot at next week’s British Open, as did Brandon Wu and Jamie Donaldson. Cabrera Bello, who started just two shots back, finished T36 after shooting a 7-over 77 on Sunday.
Schaufele has already won three times on Tour this season and achieved his 12th top 25 finish. He won the Zurich Classic in April before winning the Travelers Championship last month, which lifted him to No. 11 in the Official World Golf Ranking. He has now won two back-to-back tournaments in his career and jumped to third in the FedExCup standings.
While next week at St Andrews is certainly a much bigger challenge, Schaufele is playing as well as he possibly can heading into the final major championship of the season.
“I’m not sure if it’s like a curse or something,” Schaufele said about entering the British Open after a win. “I will ignore all media as [much as] possible. There are several boys [who] love to tell me about a story and all, but obviously I’m in good shape and I’ll try to carry that into next week.
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