Twelve times before this weekend, Xander Schauffele had been a top 10 finisher at a major championship. Twice he’d been a runner-up. But the tag that has dogged him in recent years – “The best golfer not to win a major” – is no more.
After a major championship record-tying 62 in the first round of play, Schauffele was the man to beat the entire weekend, and no one could. He finished at 21 under par, a 72-hole record for a major championship, and he now has his major.
“All those close calls for me… it gets to you at some point,” Schauffele said. “It just makes this even sweeter.”
Up until Sunday, Schauffele’s biggest win was at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, where he took home the gold medal. Now he also owns the Wanamaker Trophy and the lowest score in any major since they first teed off at The Open Championship in 1860.
Big Weekend for Bryson DeChambeau
Having made the move to LIV Golf, which has become golf’s witness protection program, Bryson DeChambeau continues to play good golf, but out of the spotlight. The U.S. Open winner in 2020 did an excellent job this weekend of reminding everyone that he is still around, and he is still capable of great golf on a big stage.
He shot the low round on Sunday, and at -20, he was in contention for a playoff until Schauffele birdied the 18th hole to win by one stroke. In any other year, -20 is good enough to win the tournament. On this day, it was good enough to make us take him seriously in the two remaining majors in 2024.
DeChambeau was T6 at the Masters, runner-up here, and at the U.S. Open next month, he’s in the top 10 on the odds board, tied with Collin Morikawa at +2000.
What’s Next for Scottie Scheffler
While Schauffele had the best weekend, the No. 1 golfer in the world, Scottie Scheffler, easily had the wildest weekend.
He shot a good score on Thursday, a great score on Friday (after getting arrested, fingerprinted, and booked for assaulting a police officer), and an equally great score on Sunday. If not for a bad round on Saturday – his only round this year over par – he would have been near the top of the leaderboard and dueling with Schauffele for the title.
What happened on Saturday may have just been golf. Sometimes you have one of those days on the course. But since Scheffler rarely has one of those days, it may have been the inevitable crash of adrenaline. Fueled by Friday’s morning’s bizarre events, Scheffler played his best round of the tournament. But as anyone who has gone through a traumatic event knows — and being cuffed and stuffed into the back of a police car counts as traumatic — eventually the adrenaline wears off and fatigue sets in.
Scheffler told reporters after his round on Sunday he was “fairly tired and ready to get home.”
Scheffler is scheduled to play the Charles Schwab Challenge in Texas beginning this Thursday, and he is a huge +280 favorite.
He’s also scheduled for arraignment on Tuesday for second-degree assault of a police officer. However, reports are that Jefferson County prosecutors will drop the charges at some point early this week. That should allow for Scheffler to keep his plans for Texas this weekend, and it should not impact the rest of his upcoming schedule.
U.S. Open Favorites
The U.S. Open tees off on June 13 at Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina, and Scheffler is the favorite at +400. Scheffler’s best U.S. Open result was in 2022 at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts, when he finished T2.
Rory McIlroy is the second betting favorite, paying +900. He finished the PGA with a more than respectable -12, which had him at T12. As with his win at the PGA in 2014 at Valhalla, the U.S. Open that year was at Pinehurst. He shot a second round 68 that year to get into negative numbers and into the top 10. But he ultimately dropped out of the top 20 by Sunday.
Jon Rahm is at +1400. But unlike DeChambeau, Rahm’s move to LIV has seemed to lower his game at the majors. As the defending champion at the Masters in April, he finished T45. This weekend at the PGA, he failed to make the cut.
Joining Rahm at +1400 is Schauffele, who has been at his best when playing the U.S. Open. Beginning with his first U.S. Open in 2017, he has gone T5, T6, T3, 5th, T7, T14, and T10. That’s six top-10 finishes in seven tournaments.
At +1400, he might be the best value bet on the board.
With over 25 years of experience as a distinguished sports writer for renowned platforms such as Fox Sports and ESPN, Kyle Garlett is a sports betting specialist who has been at the forefront of documenting the global surge in sports betting and online gaming. Based in Denver, Colorado, Kyle hosts an NFL betting YouTube show and podcast. Kyle also has two sports books published by HarperCollins.
Kyle graduated the Azusa Pacific University in 1996 with a B.A. Degree in Communication and Journalism.
