Less than one hour after he teed off on Sunday afternoon Scottie Scheffler had effectively won his first Open Championship title.
The world number one was only walking off the fourth green but the game was already up. A starting four-shot advantage over the field had grown to seven at a sun-kissed Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland.
A third birdie of the round, on the fifth, further underlined his dominance and the only question left remaining was if he would surpass Tiger Woods’ modern record of an eight-shot win, achieved in 2000 at St Andrews.
In the end, he fell short of that but a 68 saw him win on 17 under par, four shots clear of fellow American Harris English, who closed with a 66.
Last week’s surprise Scottish Open winner Chris Gotterup was one further back after a 67, while England’s Matt Fitzpatrick, who hovered around the top of the leaderboard all week, birdied two of the last three to join Wyndham Clark (65) in joint fourth on 11 under.
Rory McIlroy looked emotional as he was welcomed on to the final green like the champion by thousands of adoring fans.
He tapped in for a par that saw him finish alongside Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre and last year’s winner Xander Schauffele on 10 under.
The new champion golfer of the year though is Scheffler and given his recent dominance the comparisons with Woods are only going to grow stronger.
This stat adds to that feeling. A total of 1,197 days elapsed between Woods first major victory and his fourth (the 1997 Masters and 2000 Open). A total of 1,197 days have elapsed between Scheffler’s first major victory and his fourth (the 2022 Masters and 2025 Open).
It is a second major title of the year for Scheffler, after winning May’s US PGA Championship, and a fourth in total, adding to his two Masters. He now only needs the US Open to become the seventh player to complete the career Grand Slam.
Victory on the Antrim coast is the American’s second title outside of his home country, after also claiming gold at last year’s Olympics in Paris, France.
It is not bad for a man who spoke at the start of the week about how professional golf was “not a fulfilling life” and questioned “the point” of pursuing victories with such zeal.
More to follow.
