Express. Home of the Daily and Sunday Express. HOME News Politics Royal Showbiz & TV Sport Comment Finance Travel Life & Style Football Tennis F1 Boxing UFC Cricket Rugby Golf Racing NFL NBA Other Xander Schauffele won the Open Championship by one shot on Sunday after a final-round 65 at Royal Troon, with Phil Mickelson among those to quickly react. 00: 56, Mon, Jul 22, 2024 | UPDATED: 01: 06, Mon, Jul 22, 2024
Phil Mickelson congratulated Xander Schaffele after he won the Open Championship (Image: Getty Images)
Phil Mickelson took to social media to congratulate Xander Schauffele on his thrilling Open Championship victory.
On Sunday, Schauffele carded a flawless six-under 65 in the final round at Royal Troon en route to securing his second major of the year – narrowly edging out Justin Rose and Billy Horschel for the Claret Jug. He joins Jack Nicklaus as the only two players to win multiple major championships by shooting final rounds of 65 or lower.
Shortly after Schauffele was crowned Champion Golfer of The Year, Mickelson took to social media with a classy message for his fellow American. He wrote on Twitter: “What an incredible performance by @XSchauffele A final round 65 with -4 on the difficult back 9 to win The Open and become CGOTY is simply amazing. Congratulations, what a year, keep it up in Paris too!”.
Rose, who finished the week tied for second with Horschel, additionally applauded Schauffele for his strong showing. “Congrats Xander…. A two time major champ and deservedly so,” he wrote.
“I felt I stood tall and gave it a good go today and all week long. I walked off the 18th hole after each round feeling I got something out of the day. Thanks for the support out there. Means a lot! ! The dream of the jug is still alive!”.
Xander Schauffele carded a six-under 65 in the final round at Royal Troon (Image: Getty Images)
Standing proudly with the Claret Jug, Schauffele expressed his gratitude towards Mickelson for inspiring his Open Championship triumph. The 30-year-old golf sensation admitted to watching highlights of Mickelson’s legendary battle with Stenson at the 2016 Open to get into the winning mindset.
“I feel very honoured. Hearing your name called with ‘Open champion’ afterwards is something I’ve dreamt of for a very long time,” he shared. “I watched the highlights of Phil [Mickelson] and Henrik [Stenson] in 2016 to motivate myself. I guess that paid off pretty nicely!”.
Schauffele also credited his victory on Sunday to an unprecedented level of calm he experienced during the final round. “There’s calmness and super stressful moments when you’re trying to win a major championship,” he continued.
“I felt them in the past – the ones I didn’t win – and I let them get to me. Today, I felt like I did a pretty good job of weathering the storm when I needed to.
“It was hard. It was very difficult. I think winning the first one helped me a lot today on the back nine. I had some feeling of calmness come through. It was very helpful on what has been one of the hardest back nines I’ve ever played in a tournament.
“I mean, it’s a dream come true to win two majors in one year. It took me forever just to win one, and to have two now is something else.”
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