Schauffele holds nerve for maiden major title at PGA Championship, SA's Burmester tied for 12th

Schauffele birdies final hole to capture PGA Championship for first major win

Xander Schauffele outdueled Bryson DeChambeau down the back nine on Sunday to win the PGA Championship, capturing his first major triumph with the lowest score in major history.

Third-ranked Schauffele sank a tension-packed six-foot birdie putt on the par-5 18th hole at Valhalla for a one-stroke victory over DeChambeau to snap a two-year victory drought.

"I was actually kind of emotional after the putt lipped in," said Schauffele. "It has been a while since I've won.

"I kept saying it all week. I just need to stay in my lane. And man, was it hard to stay in my lane today. But I tried all day to just keep focus on what I'm trying to do."

Schauffele, who had 12 prior top-10 major finishes without a victory, had not won an event since the 2022 Scottish Open, having had 19 top-10 PGA Tour finishes during his drought.

But he matched the lowest round in major history with a nine-under 62 on Thursday and was equal to the challenge on Sunday.

The reigning Olympic champion fired a six-under par 65 and finished 72 holes on 21-under 263 to edge fellow American DeChambeau, the 2020 US Open champion.

Schauffele broke the old 72-hole record low under-par winning score of 20-under, done four times, most recently by Australian Cameron Smith at the 2022 British Open.

Victory was worth $3.33 million to Schauffele from an $18.5 million purse while DeChambeau took home $1.998 million.

"Proud of Xander for finally getting the job done," DeChambeau said. "He's an amazing golfer and well deserved major champion now.

"On my side of the coin, disappointing. I played well. Shot 20-under par in a major championship. Proud of myself for the way I handled adversity. Definitely disappointing, but one that gives me a lot of momentum for the rest of the majors."

DeChambeau closed with a 64 while Norway's Victor Hovland, last year's PGA runner-up, was third on 266 after shooting a 66. Belgium's Thomas Detry fired a 66 to share fourth on 269 with Collin Morikawa, the 54-hole co-leader who made 16 pars in shooting 71.

England's Justin Rose and Ireland's Shane Lowry shared sixth on 270.

DeChambeau rolled in a birdie putt from just beyond 10 feet at the par-5 18th hole, the ball barely dropping in, to match Schauffele for the lead at 20-under.Seconds later, Hovland missed his 10-foot birdie putt to doom his chances and ended up making a bogey.

Schauffele's tee shot at 18 was in the left rough on the edge of a fairway bunker. He calmly blasted his second shot 36 yards from the hole in the fairway short of the green and dropped his approach six feet from the hole.

The ball made a slight roll on the edge as it fell in to give him a wire-to-wire triumph, counting shared leads.Not since 2005 Phil Mickelson at Baltusrol had a player birdied the 72nd hole to win the Wanamaker Trophy.

"I just told myself this is my opportunity and just capture it," Schauffele said.

He put past defeats in perspective with a text from his father - a steady drip breaks the rock.

"That's actually what my dad texted me," Schauffele said. "In German though. I had to ask him what the translation was."

Hovland, last year's FedEx Cup playoff champion and PGA runner-up, was denied his first major title.

DeChambeau, the top finisher among 16 LIV Golf entrants, led the field in driving distance.

SA's Burmester tied for 12th

South Africa's Dean Burmester shot a final round of one-under 70 to finish tied for 12th (-12).

His compatriot Erik van Rooyen shot three-under 68 on Sunday to finish tied for tied for 53rd (-5).

Scheffler shares 8th

World number one Scottie Scheffler fired a 65 to finish on 271 and share eighth with fellow Americans Justin Thomas and Billy Horschel.

He had his first over-par round of the year on Saturday, a day after being arrested and jailed after a traffic incident at the entrance to Valhalla."I'm proud of how I fought," he said.

"Kind of running on fumes."

Four-time major winner Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland shot 67 to finish on 272. Second-ranked McIlroy has not won a major since 2014 at Valhalla but has since had 20 top-10 major finishes.

American Jordan Spieth, trying to win to complete a career Grand Slam, fired a 73 to finish on 278.

- AFP

Schauffele is near the edge of the bunker on the par-5 18th. Schauffele needs to birdie to avoid a playoff.

Meanwhile, Bryson DeChambeau is at the driving range, preparing for a possible sudden death.

Schauffele is tied for the top alongside clubhouse leader DeChambeau with one hole left!

Schauffele is chasing his maiden Major title... Could we see a playoff?

South African golfer Dean Burmester carded a final round of one-under 70 to finish on 12-under par. Burmester is currently tied for 11th.

Meanwhile, the other South African to make the weekend cut was Erik van Rooyen. Van Rooyen carded a three-under 68 round to finish on five-under for the tournament (currently tied for 53rd).

Image: Getty

Schauffele grabs the lead once again as SA's Burmester reaches the 18th hole...

Burmester is 12-under, while Schauffele moves to 20-under as he eyes his maiden Major title.

Burmester is tied for 11th on 12-under through 15 holes...

It's safe to say that the South African will not win, but a top 15 finish will secure his ticket to next year's PGA Championship.

Burmester enters the back nine and is one-over for his final round - sitting tied for 19th on 10-under.

Getty Images

Schauffele is leading the PGA Championship final round by two shots, he moves to 17-under.

Morikawa, Lowry and DeChambeau are tied for second on 15-under.

Schauffele birdies the opening hole and takes a one-shot lead at 16-under par.

SA's Burmester is on 10-under through four holes.

Co-leaders Xander Schauffele and Collin Morikawa have teed off and begin their final round.

Schauffele is looking for a maiden Major title, while Morikawa vies for his third title and second PGA Championship win. Will one of them hoist the Wanamaker Trophy?

South African and LIV golfer Dean Burmester will tee off at 19:55 (SA time) alongside American Lee Hodges on 11-under par.

Burmester, who received a invitation to this week's Major, is four shots adrift from co-leaders Xander Schauffele and Collin Morikawa.

In April, Burmester won his first LIV Golf title at Trump National Doral in Miami.

South African golfer Erik van Rooyen has finished his final round of the PGA Championship.

Van Rooyen carded a three-under 68 round to finish on five-under for the tournament (currently tied for 51st).

The main coverage of the final round of the PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club is underway:

South African Dean Burmester is ninth-place on 11-under - four adrift from leaders Xander Schauffele and Collin Morikawa.

Burmester tees off at 19:55 SA time.

Meanwhile, Erik van Rooyen is tied for 58th on four-under par through 16 holes.

Lowry's 62 equals low major round as Schauffele, Morikawa lead PGA

Shane Lowry matched the lowest round in major golf history on Saturday, shooting a nine-under par 62 in the third round of the PGA Championship, while Xander Schauffele and Collin Morikawa shared the 54-hole lead at Valhalla.

The 37-year-old Irishman tied the mark achieved four prior times, most recently in Thursday's first round by Schauffele, who closed with back-to-back birdies to shoot 68 and match fellow American Collin Morikawa on 15-under 198 with Sahith Theegala third on 199.

World number three Schauffele, seeking his first major title, made double bogey at 15 but recovered with tap-in birdies at 17 and 18.

"Bouncing back was big. It's nice to have a share of the lead at least," Schauffele said.

"Need to stay in my lane, keep doing what I'm doing and hope it's enough."

Lowry's bogey-free round left the 2019 British Open champion, who began the day eight shots adrift, sharing fourth on 200 with American Bryson DeChambeau and Norway's Viktor Hovland.

"I'm going to have to keep going," Lowry said. "A lot of guys are playing great golf. The course is gettable. And like you see today somebody can come from way behind.

"I'm going to go out tomorrow and see if can get that trophy."

Other 62s have been made by Schauffele and American Rickie Fowler in the first round at last year's US Open and the 2017 British Open by South African Branden Grace.

Lowry birdied eight of the first 14 holes, sank birdie putts of 37 feet at 13 and 32 feet at the par-3 14th and one from just outside six feet at 17 to build the drama.

"I felt like I was just going to keep making birdies," Lowry said. "I just kept rolling them in. I got off to a great start."

At 18, Lowry had a birdie putt from just inside 12 feet for 61 but missed, saying, "It has been a long time since I've seen this so I'm not going to complain."

Scheffler fades

Schauffele birdied from just inside four feet at the par-5 seventh - his first birdie in 15 holes - and added others from just outside 21 feet at the par-5 10th and just inside 30 feet on the par-3 14th.

Tokyo Olympic champion Schauffele has not won any event since the 2022 Scottish Open, having had 19 top-10 PGA Tour finishes in the nearly two years since.

Two-time major winner Morikawa started with a bogey but a 30-foot chip-in birdie at the third and a closing 10-foot birdie putt kept him level with Schauffele.

"This week has been about taking one shot at a time, figuring out what you have and playing golf," said Morikawa.

"I've been doing a good job of that and I have 18 more holes to do that.

Theegala birdied six of the last 10 holes, a tap-in at 18 keeping him one adrift."I know my game is good enough to compete," Theegala said.

"I'm going to have to play my butt off."

A contender who faded was world number one Scottie Scheffler, who fired a two-over 73 - his first over-par round of the year - a day after being arrested.

He stood on 206, eight adrift.Scheffler, 27, faces charges of felony assault of a police officer, criminal mischief, reckless driving and disregarding signals from an officer directing traffic.

"I definitely did not feel like myself but yesterday happened and I came out and did my best," he said.

Scheffler stumbled early with a double bogey at the par-5 second and bogeys at three and four.

Scheffler birdied the fifth and 18th but after three other birdies he made a bogey on the next hole.

"Tough day. Got off to a tough start," he said. "Was battling all day but seemed to follow every birdie with a bogey. Way too many mistakes. Pretty frustrated with the day."

Jordan Spieth, needing a victory to complete a career Grand Slam, birdied three of the last four holes to shoot 67 and stand on eight-under 205.

Also on 205 was second-ranked Rory McIlroy, a four-time major winner who filed for divorce from wife Erica on Monday.

McIlroy shot 68.

- AFP

Two South Africans have made the weekend cut with LIV golfer Dean Burmester leading the way.

Burmester, who eagled the par-5 18th hole to reach 134 for 36 holes, four off the pace at eight-under par and tied for eighth.

Erik van Rooyen is the only other South African to make the cut as he sits tied for 52nd on two-under par.

Play resumed in the second round of the 106th PGA Championship at Valhalla on Saturday after heavy fog delayed the restart by two hours and 25 minutes and changed how players will be grouped for round three.

The final 17 players still on the course on Friday, when darkness halted play, must complete their last holes before the cut can be made and groups can be determined for round three.

The lowest score among those still on the course belonged to South African Dean Burmester on 6-under, six off the pace, with two holes remaining.

Players were going to start in pairs from the first tee in round three but now will be sent off from the first and 10th tees in groups of three to try and ensure the round is completed before sunset.

Reigning Olympic champion Xander Schauffele, seeking his first major victory, leads the field on 12-under par 136 after 36 holes with Collin Morikawa, a two-time major winner, one stroke behind and Sahith Theegala two back.

The American trio will tee off for round three in the afternoon's final group.

Scottie Scheffler, who fired a five-under par 66 on Friday after being arrested in the early morning, shares fourth on 133 with fellow Americans Bryson DeChambeau and Mark Hubbard and Belgium's Thomas Detry.

- AFP

Heavy fog delays restart of PGA Championship

Heavy fog has delayed Saturday's restart of the second round of the 106th PGA Championship at Valhalla and changed how players will be grouped for round three.

The final 17 players still on the course Friday when darkness halted play, must complete their last holes before the cut can be made and groups can be determined for round three.

The lowest score among those still on the course belongs to South African Dean Burmester on 6-under, six off the pace, with two holes remaining.

Players were set to start in pairs from the first tee in round three but now will be sent off from the first and 10th tees in groups of three to try and ensure the round is completed before sunset.

Reigning Olympic champion Xander Schauffele, seeking his first major victory, leads the field on 12-under par 136 after 36 holes with fellow American Collin Morikawa, a two-time major winner, one stroke behind and countryman Sahith Theegala two back.

Scottie Scheffler, who fired a five-under par 66 on Friday after being arrested in the early morning, shares fourth on 133 with fellow Americans Bryson DeChambeau and Mark Hubbard and Belgium's Thomas Detry.

AFP

Fatality, Scheffler arrest cause concern, chaos for PGA rivals

A fatal accident near the entrance to Valhalla on Friday and the subsequent arrest of top-ranked Scottie Scheffler rattled rivals at the PGA Championship.

John Mills, a vendor headed to work at the course, was struck by a vehicle and killed before dawn Friday outside the entrance to Valhalla.

The subsequent traffic jam caused by the accident prompted Scheffler to jump a curb while trying to enter the course.

This led to his arrest on four charges, but he left a jail cell and fired a five-under par 66 to stand on nine-under 133 and be in contention for a third major triumph.

While the tragic and bizarre tales unfolded, however, other players were trying to cope with the chaos.

"It's dark, it's raining, police lights everywhere, it was very strange coming into the course," said American Harris English, who fired a 67 to stand on 135.

"Then news broke that Scottie had been detained and all that. We had no idea what was going on. That could have been any one of us. We're all taking that same route coming into the club.

"You kind of take it all in, and talking amongst all the players and caddies and physios and our little bubble in there, and it's just wild. Turn on ESPN and seeing Scottie in handcuffs, getting in a police car, I never would have thought I would have seen that this morning.

"It was just wild."

Sadder yet, English said, was the loss of life.

"Very unfortunate. You never want to hear about a person losing their life coming to the course," he said.

"It's just terrible."

Australia's Min Woo Lee was a quick supporter of Scheffler after his arrest, posting on X: "#FreeScottie."

"I thought it was a little overreaction. It was just a weird one. So much traffic. I was a bit shook about what happened on both the scenarios," Lee said after firing 66.

"During the round, it was even hard to just concentrate, and I had to make sure to keep my head in the game because I wouldn't want that to happen to anyone, and what happened to Scottie was very scary, too. Hopefully, he's OK."

Eckroat walks to the course

Austin Eckroat went about two miles in 30 minutes in his car due to the traffic backup and took matters onto his own feet.

"I ended up getting out of my car and walking a mile and a half and having my wife drive the car in," Eckroat said.

"We were in a standstill so I pulled up the local news station trying to figure out what was going on, and the first thing I saw was Scottie had been put in handcuffs, and I was like, what in the world is going on.

"It was a weird morning."

Two-time major winner Collin Morikawa, who fired a 65 to briefly grab the lead, felt Mills deserved more reflection.

"I don't think that's getting talked about enough, or at all. My wishes and prayers are within that family," Morikawa said.

As for his day, that jumped into gear quickly.

"By the time I went into the workout trailer, I knew I had to focus and not worry about anyone else," said Morikawa.

"It's very hard to do that when things are going on around you."

AFP