Scottie Scheffler claimed a fourth major title and completed a third leg of the career Grand Slam by cruising to a dominant four-shot victory at The Open.
The world No 1 took a four-shot lead into the final day at Royal Portrush and quickly asserted further control by making three birdies in his first five holes, with Scheffler reaching the turn five ahead despite a double-bogey at the par-four eighth.
Scheffler added one more birdie to close out a three-under 68 and end the week on 17 under, with his victory – following his PGA Championship success in May – now giving him the chance to complete the career Grand Slam next June at the US Open.
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Scottie Scheffler birdied the first hole of his final round on his way to a convincing success
The 29-year-old finished comfortably ahead of Harris English, who carded his second major runner-up finish of the season after a final-round 66, with last week’s Genesis Scottish Open winner Chris Gotterup a further shot back in third.
Wyndham Clark shared fourth place alongside Matt Fitzpatrick and Haotong Li, as Rory McIlroy’s bid for a historic victory on home soil ended in a share of seventh with defending champion Xander Schauffele and Robert MacIntyre.
How Scheffler closed out another dominant major victory
Scheffler fired his approach from the left rough to tap-in range and matched Li’s birdie at the par-four first, while a par at the par-five next was enough to increase his lead to five when his playing partner made bogey.
Li found a fairway bunker off the tee and bogeyed the par-four fourth, where Scheffler converted from seven feet to go seven clear, with both players picking up a shot at the next to put the chasing pack further behind.
Scheffler holed a 15-foot birdie at the fifth and converted from similar distances for par over his next two holes, keeping him six clear, only to give the field a lifeline when he took two attempts out of a fairway bunker on his way a double-bogey at the eighth.
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Scottie Scheffler made double-bogey during his fourth round of The Open to give a glimmer of hope to the chasing pack
It temporarily cut Scheffler’s lead to four after Gotterup made three birdies on his way to reach the turn in 33, but the world No 1 replied with a five-foot birdie at the ninth to reach the turn with a five-stroke buffer.
That became six when Li bogeyed the 10th, while Gotterup cancelled out a dropped shot at the 11th with back-to-back birdies to reclaim solo second, as Scheffler responded to a missed birdie chance at the 10th by making an eight-foot birdie at the 12th.
Scottie Scheffler was four shots or more ahead throughout his final round in Northern Ireland
Scheffler squandered 10-foot birdie chances at the 13th and 16th but it made little impact on the result, even when English followed a long-range eagle at the 12th by birdieing two of his three holes and jumping to 13 under.
The pre-tournament favourite safely negotiated the final two holes in pars to close out another thrilling victory, where he became the first world No 1 to win The Open since Tiger Woods defended his title in 2006.
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Watch the moment Scottie Scheffler won The Open at Royal Portrush, with a par at the 18th closing out a memorable victory
It is the 10th consecutive that Scheffler has closed out a 54-hole lead and is his 17th PGA Tour title in just over three and a half years, with Scheffler now having the chance to complete the career Grand Slam – on his 30th birthday – next June at the US Open.
McIlroy – also chasing a second major win of the season – reached the turn in 34 but saw his hopes derailed with a double-bogey at the par-four 10th, with the world No 2 adding two birdies late in his round to end the week seven shots behind Scheffler.
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Rory McIlroy made a sloppy double bogey on the par-four tenth hole to end his title run
Bryson DeChambeau carded a round-of-the-day 64 to share tenth spot with Corey Conners, Russell Henley and 2023 champion Brian Harman, while English quarter Tommy Fleetwood, John Parry, Justin Rose and Tyrrell Hatton were part of a share of 16th place on seven under.
More to follow..
What’s next?
The PGA Tour heads to Minnesota for the 3M Open, starting on Thursday at TPC Twin Cities, while the next DP World Tour event is the Nero Championship in Scotland from August 7-10.
The Senior Open begins on Thursday at Sunningdale, before the women’s major season concludes with the AIG Women’s Open from July 31-August 3 at Royal Porthcawl. Stream the PGA Tour, majors and more top sport with no contract.
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