Technically, Xander Schauffele won a major
Plus, Bryson is suddenly likeable and Scottie was arrested (?!?)
After years of Wikipedia top-10s, Xander Schauffele can finally call himself a major champion, coming out on top at the PGA Championship.
But despite a tight finish, it felt like something was missing…
The leading edge
Main takeaway(s) from the weekend, by Myles
Stefan Schauffele was once a promising decathlete.
One day in 1986, though, the dream came to a sudden halt. Stefan, on his way into practice, was struck by a drunk driver, causing career-ending injuries.
Instead, Stefan instilled the principles of decathlon into his son, Xander, an aspiring golfer. Stefan would hammer Xander to be sure he was consistent in all aspects of his game.
On Sunday, it all paid off. Xander claimed his first major title, lipping in a birdie putt on 18 to win the PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville.
In a sense, it’s fitting that Schauffele, the decathlete golfer, came out on top. Like Valhalla itself, the San Diego native is dullingly consistent. On a week-to-week basis, he goes out and plays the shots in front of him. There’s nothing unique about his game like Bryson, no emotional heft like Rory, no dominance like Scottie.
To be clear — the strategy works. Schauffele’s now ranked second worldwide. He’s good at everything, but he just doesn’t play the most exciting brand of golf.
At Valhalla, a pure test of golf-shot execution with little strategy to be found, Schauffele was mostly able to put himself in position with a strong driver. He bailed himself out around the greens when things went awry. And it was his putter than won him the Wanamaker Trophy with a closing seven-footer.
Xander also deserves credit for shaking the Sunday monkey off his back and shedding — for now — his reputation as someone who can’t close.
The thing is, doing it at this course didn’t feel like the proper challenge.
We don’t profess to be course snobs here at Basement Golf — see last week’s dispatch on The Muni for proof of that — but even that highway-bordered course in Charleston would have provided more intrigue than this PGA Championship.
At Valhalla, there were no decisions to be made, no trouble to be found for poor shots and maybe one unique hole, the 13th, which wound up being played the exact same way almost every single time.
The greens were soft, the fairways were soft. It seemed as though Collin Morikawa lined up to hit his cut on every tee box.
Andy Johnson — a course design expert — summed up nicely what made Valhalla a not-so-great test of golf in his Fried Egg newsletter.
And when the tournament hit the back nine on Sunday, it felt more like a horse race than a golf competition, with no threat of anyone dropping a stroke.
What makes majors great in this split-tour era of golf is the reunion of the world’s top players, and watching them react to each other. A bunched leaderboard featuring past major champions in Collin Morikawa and Bryson DeChambeau delivered on that.
Otherwise, Valhalla felt like any other week on the PGA Tour — a birdie-fest.
If Xander is truly a golf decathlete, he’ll prove it by winning an Open Championship on the links or, hey, even next month’s U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2, which conceded a winning score of just 5-under when it last hosted a major in 2014.
Winning at Valhalla required consistency. Now let’s see greatness.
The false front
A take one of us needed to unload, by Nate
Bryson DeChambeau has, against all odds, become likeable. I’m not sure if I’m more shocked that Scottie got arrested this week (!!!) or that the masses, including myself, seemed to be on the Bryson bandwagon.
Let’s get this out of the way … Bryson is one of the biggest doofuses out there. He shaved his leg hair to become more aerodynamic, took bulking season to the furthest extreme, and confidently stated he’d turn Augusta National into a par-67 shortly before missing the cut. His antics, while intriguing, have largely made him an unpopular figure to root for.
But when Bryson inevitably took the cash and ran to LIV, he started to shift his character arc for the better. The once flat-cap wearing and oblivious golfer became more self-aware.
In his post-round presser, Bryson said that he’s intentionally putting on a show “a lot more for the people and the fans. … I’m trying to be an entertainer that plays good golf every once in a while.”
Bryson has used his YouTube golf persona to lean into what makes him likeable, converting massive drives and magical shots into celebrations Xander couldn’t even dream about. He strutted around Valhalla with a smile on his face, giving out golf balls to young fans and interacting with the crowds.
He also showed a lot more humility, saying he is “proud of Xander for finally getting the job done … I mean, he's an amazing golfer and well-deserved major champion now.” While standard for most golfers, the sportsmanship is somewhat new for Bryson.
And in the blink of an eye, Bryson became easy to root for.
Let’s see how long it lasts.
Links roundup, Scottie style
Golf content we consumed over the past week…
And you thought we’d go this whole newsletter with just one passing mention of Scottie freaking Scheffler, the Masters champ and No. 1 player in the world, getting arrested and charged with a felony on Friday morning.
Happy trails to the arresting officer’s $80 pants. We hope he can afford replacements.
Scottie’s press conference after his Friday 66 was surreal, including him dropping the nugget that he began his stretching routine in a jail cell
Enjoy the best memes from the day in this Twitter thread
No Laying Up’s KVV reports that prosecutors are planning to drop charges against Scottie
And, of course, a mugshot that will live in infamy for its sheer ridiculousness
Swing thoughts
Something about playing golf, by Nate
“Your swing doesn’t need more tinkering” - *Viktor Hovland
OK, Hovland might not have said this exactly, but he should resonate with the sentiment.
After winning the FedEx Cup last year and truly asserting himself as a top contender in majors, Hovland dumped his swing coach, Joe Mayo, and simultaneously fell off a Norwegian alp into the depths of a swing-finding fjord. He weaved through new swing feels and reverted back to his poor touch around the greens, all culminating in a brutal missed cut at The Masters.
Yet something changed this week when the two reunited. Hovland found his form in just 30 minutes of work with Mayo, finishing solo third and missing a birdie putt to get into a playoff.
I share this story as a cautionary tale to us average Joes who carry more swing thoughts than clubs. To golfers who once felt some sort of groove in their game, and quickly lost it because their buddy said hitting a draw makes the ball go further and now you’ve got the duck-hooks.
Like Hovland, my first swing lesson last year put me in a dark and shank-ful place. It took over 10 rounds to even things out.
So as we look to lower our handicaps, let’s go back to what’s worked in the past. Be creative and have fun, but stop toying with your swing every other hole.
Hovland is living proof that tinkering just ain’t it.