Next for Scheffler: Completion of the personal Grand Slam

Scottie Scheffler insists he’s nothing special. Obviously, he’s wrong.  He is “the Champion Golfer of the Year.”

Truth be told, he’s much more. He’s the man the announcers on Golf Channel kept relating to Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus.

He’s the man who needs only a victory in the US Open—the next one is at Shinnecock Hills on Long Island in June—to equal one of golf’s most sought-after goals: a personal Grand Slam.  Scheffler’s victory Sunday in the Open Championship at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland gave him the third leg of the slam. It seems inevitable that Scheffler, age 29, and at the height of his game, will achieve the fourth. 

Funny how this year progressed. The talk all winter and spring was whether Rory McIlroy could win the Masters and complete his own grand slam. Which, as we know, he did. There was something else involving golf when the year began: Scheffler’s Christmas Day injury, cutting his hand on a broken glass while making dinner. That kept him out of action for the beginning of the season. But he certainly has come back. And his golf at the Open Championship was so dominant that going into the last day, the only issue was who would finish second behind Scottie, and that turned out to be Harris English.

Scheffler began the last round in the Open with a four-shot lead, which was increased for a while to seven shots, and despite a double bogey at the eighth hole, his first stumble after 32 consecutive holes with nothing worse than a par, he remained in control.

The closing round three-under par 68 gave him a four-round total of 267, 17 under. That was four shots ahead of English, who had a 66. Third, after a 67, was Chris Gotterup, who won the previous week’s Genesis Scottish Open. There was a three-way tie for fourth at 273 among Hao-Tong Li (70), who recorded the best finish ever for a player from China, Matt Fitzpatrick (69), and Wyndham Clark (65). Another shot back at 274 were last year’s winner, Xander Schauffele (68), Robert MacIntyre (67), and Rory McIlroy (69).

McIlroy is from Northern Ireland. Shane Lowry, who is from Ireland, was the 2019 Open Champion. He was effusive in his praise of Scheffler.

“I played with him the first two days,” said Lowry. “And honestly, I thought he was going to birdie every hole. It was incredible to watch.” 

Scheffler won for the fourth time this year. He is the first player in the last century to win his first four majors by at least three shots. He has won 20 times worldwide since February 2022, and this was the 11th straight time he turned a 54-hole lead into a victory.

“I’m very fortunate to come out here and being able to compete,” admitted Scheffler. “I’m living out my dreams. This is amazing to be able to come out here and compete and win.”