Faced with a life-changing birdie putt, a nervous Xander Schauffele was determined that this was finally the time to grab his first major title.
Schauffele picked up his putter on the par-5 18th hole in the final round of the PGA Championship, hit the ball and wasn’t sure what happened next.
Then the cheering crowd in Valhalla warned him that, after heartache and near misses, he was finally a big winner.
“I knew I had to birdie the last hole,” he said. “I tried to make a bird’s nest in it somehow. I kept telling myself, ‘I have to earn this, I have to prove this to myself, and this is my time.'”
Schauffele fired a 6-under-par 65 to finish at 21-under – the lowest score in major championship history – and beat fellow American Bryson DeChambeau by one stroke for his first major victory on Sunday.
“Just a whirlwind of emotions,” Schauffele said. “It feels great. Just a wide range of emotions for me. Very satisfying win.
“This is great. It’s super sweet. But when I break it down, I’m really proud of the way I handled certain moments on the course differently than before.”
Schauffele had 12 top-10 finishes in majors without a victory until his clutch putt fell into the hole. His triumph also ended a two-year drought since his last win, at the 2022 Scottish Open, a streak that included 19 top-10 PGA Tour efforts without a win.
“I kept telling myself I had to earn this, earn this and be in the moment, and I did that,” Schauffele said. “I believed in what I can do, and this is just the fruit of it.”
The reigning Olympic champion says this will be a chance to defend his title at the Paris Games, and will also give him extra motivation.
“It’s just icing on the cake,” he said. “It’s completely separate from competing in the Olympics. It certainly helps with the qualification process. … my goal was to qualify. I imagine this win probably secures me qualification for the Olympics.
“That’s a completely different story, winning, but you can certainly gain some confidence from this.”
When the moment of truth arrived, Schauffele handled the tension with poise and calm.
“I was quite nervous,” he said. “I was walking up, I was kind of looking left to right (pause). I kept reading it, kept panning a little bit. I started looking right to left at me and I was like, ‘Oh my God, this isn’t what I want is a winning putt.’
“Luckily it went uphill. I ended up playing him straight. He went left and took the left side. So much relief. I don’t really remember him coming in. I heard everyone roaring and I just looked up in relief at the heaven.
“I’ve had that feeling in the past when I did that, and I couldn’t convert the putt, and I ended up hitting some decent putts at better pace.”
Schauffele said he was inspired by squandering a late lead and losing to Rory McIlroy at Quail Hollow last week during a PGA Tour event.
“I kind of used that as fuel, and it calmed me down a little bit because I knew I was going to get into a major in good shape,” Schauffele said.
“All those close calls for me, even last week, that kind of feeling, it happens to you at some point. It just makes this more fun. I know it’s a major, but just winning in general, this is so beautiful as can be.” for me.”
He was happy to always be asked when he would finally win a major.
“Definitely a chip on the shoulder there,” Schauffele said. “It’s a lot easier to answer it now that this thing is sitting next to me. It just added fuel to my fire.”
Schauffele wasn’t overly impressed with the 21-under total, noting the course was receptive due to the rain.
“It’s just the weather that came through,” he said. “Just getting to 21st just had to happen, and obviously it’s pretty cool to have it be a part of history.”
