It was a golfing exhibition from the best there is as he carded a three-under Sunday 68 and never looked like surrendering his four-shot 54-hole lead.
Home favourite Rory McIlroy started six shots back, the same position from which he had produced a miracle comeback win over Scheffler at the 2022 Tour Championship. In truth, a repeat never looked likely from the off on Sunday, as a cold putter on the front nine meant real momentum evaded McIlroy, despite three tap-in birdies.
The only moment of jeopardy in the entire day came when Scheffler couldn’t get his ball out of the fairway bunker on the eighth, but by the time Rory had his own struggles two holes later, the would-be champ had already bounced back from double with a birdie at nine.
As that putt dropped, McIlroy was chunking a chip after going long at the tenth, and when he tapped in for double, he was eight shots back; his race run.
McIlroy, to his credit, carded two more birdies to complete a two-under-par final round 69 and end the week ten-under-par in a tie for seventh. Compared to six years ago when he missed the cut after a horror opening round, McIlroy has electrified the crowd this week. His Saturday eagle on 12 will live long in the memory as the moment Portrush believed in the impossible.
After his final round, he looked forward to another opportunity to take the next step at Royal Portrush: “I’ve got everything I wanted out of (this week) except the Claret Jug. I feel so thankful and lucky that I get to do this in front of this crowd. Hopefully I’ll have one or two more Opens here, one while I’m competitive and one when I’m more grey even than I am now! It was nice to have a chance out there.”
Scheffler led by seven at one stage during his cruise of a back nine, and while his US compatriots Chris Gotterup and Harris English almost halved that deficit, the Claret Jug was only ever being lifted by one man.
It’s the world number one’s fourth major title, and means he now needs only a US Open to match Rory’s achievement and complete a career grand slam.
He said: “Thank you to the fans. I know I wasn’t the fan-favourite today, but I did hear a lot of ‘USA’ chants so I appreciate that. It’s been a great week, the support was tremendous. I played with Shane (Lowry) on the first two days and seeing you guys support him the way you did was great.”
In the end, it wasn’t to be for Rory. The week belonged to the world number one.
Roll on next time.
Follow along with all the week’s action right here on our blog:
Key updates
Rory McIlroy and more are ready to return to Royal Portrush
Rory McIlroy finishes -10: He made Portrush believe
Jordan Spieth: Portrush fans are the best in the world
What Shane Lowry said after finishing at -2
That’s us!
From Rory McIlroy sneaking out for a 7am practice round on Monday (and very unhelpfully for us doing it again on Tuesday) to Scottie Scheffler being crowned Champion Golfer of the Year on the 18th green at Royal Portrush, it has been some week on the north coast of Northern Ireland.
It has been our pleasure to bring you live coverage of every inch of this year’s Open Championship, through yellow weather warnings and baking heat, from roaring eagle putts to heart-breaking double-bogeys – and even a TEN on Friday – and even fans with ‘RORS’ dyed into their hair, we’ve seen it all.
From Steven Beacom, Niamh Campbell, Gareth Hanna and Adam McKendry, thank you so much to everyone who tuned in to our coverage, even if it was only to see whether Rory McIlroy was teeing off on a practice round on Wednesday morning.
Congratulations to Scottie Scheffler on his win and see you at Royal Portrush in six years’ time! (Maybe…)
Rory McIlroy: The man who made Royal Portrush believe
Rory McIlroy and more are ready to return to Royal Portrush
Love from Bob Mac
The Scotsman finished in a share of seventh this week and shared his happiness on social media.
Q: Can you talk me through the minute after you won, where you went from being modest to throwing your hat in the air when you saw your family?
“Every time I win a tournament, the first person I look for is my wife. Usually we walk off to the right and she wasn’t there, so I wondered what happened, but then she was with my dad. She’s my best friend. It takes a lot of work to be able to be good at this game and I wouldn’t be able to do it without her support and her being able to give me the time to do that. It’s not a lifestyle that other people want but we’re grateful and it’s a fun life for us. The whole team should have their names on the trophy because it takes a village. We have a great time and we love being able to practice to work and celebrate these things.”
Q: As you came up to 18, your son was clapping. Has he started playing?
“Bennett was clapping. Sometimes he claps when he hits a golf ball. I have one nephew who’s completely obsessed with golf I was when I was a young age. He hits golf ball after golf ball and Bennett wanted to try. I set a ball down and he hit it. He likes it, but he doesn’t know what a ball is. He’s either eating his golf club or hitting something with it. Sometimes other kids – we’re working on it!
“The game of golf has taught me a tremendous amount. It’s a very special game. You call penalties on yourself and learn a lot of good life lessons. I hope he can play and enjoys it as much as I do.”
Q: Do you let your mind wander to the US Open and the final leg of the Grand Slam?
“No. I just got off the golf course! That’s one of those funny things, since Rory accomplished it earlier this year, it’s what everybody is thinking about. It’s really special for him to achieve that and I don’t focus too much on that. I’ll assess that when I get home and at the end of the year. I don’t think about winning tournaments, I just think about playing the best I can.”
Q: It seems like one of your big priority is to maintain some semblance of normal family life… how did you know it was something you had to do and prepared for that?
“I think that’s a good description. My biggest priorities are my faith and my family. Golf is third in that order. Golf is not how I identify myself. I don’t identify myself by winning tournaments or being famous. There are two chipotles that I go to. If I go to one of those, it would be difficult now, the other one; if I go there, nobody recognises me ever! I’m not going to tell you where that is! This week I was the best player in the world, next week we start at even par and the show goes on. I don’t feel any different because I won a tournament. I’m very grateful for it. It’s an amazing feel but, my faith and my family is what’s most important to me. I feel like a normal guy. I have the same friends I had growing up.”
Q: Do you think about records, like your 54-hole lead win rate or how long you’ve been at the top of the rankings?
“Not really. I’ve always felt I’m best when I can live in the present. Looking back on this week, if I just showed up in Memphis and thought I was best resting on my accomplishments, I probably won’t play well, or thinking about my poor starts. I always think about my effort and going out and competing my hardest. I just try to get the most out of myself every day and compete as hard as I can when I’m inside the ropes.”
Q: Tiger’s first-fourth major wins and yours were both 1,197 days. What about those comparisons?
“I think they’re a bit silly. Tiger won 15 majors. This is my fourth. Tiger stands alone in golf. He was inspirational for me. I don’t focus on those kinds of things. I have dreams and aspirations but at the end of the day, when I wake up to practice, what motivates me is to live out my dream. I feel like I’m called to do it to the best of my ability. Outside of that, I don’t place much emphasis on winning tournaments or things that I can accomplish.”
Q: How pleased were you with your putting this week?
“I feel like I’ve done a great work with Phil, he’s a great guy to bounce off and we’ve made great work. I grew up being a great putter, I wasn’t a great ball striker, so I grew up being good at my short game. I had acouple years on Tour where I wasn’t great but I knew it was in there and Phil helped bring it out again and being confident in what I’m doing. The conversation on Monday and Tuesday was how did I feel last week and I felt pretty good, the ball wasn’t going in, the only thing I wanted to check was whether I was lined up where I wanted to be and we went from there. I didn’t put much thought to it and I putted nice.”
Q: What was your first impression of the 16th?
“It was raining and blowing out of the left. I hit it to 30 feet during the practice day and I thought it was an amazing shot. Sam Burns hit it to 20 and holed it! So I thought shoot, I’ve just lost the hole!
“It’s one of the great views in golf. There were rainbows and looking out over the course on the right. It’s bounds and hills and the town’s in the difference. It’s a really good hole. I was fortunate to enjoy the walk with a putter in my hand. I’m very grateful for the tee shots this week.”
Q: Easy to go back to that quote earlier in the week, is it going to be longer than a two-minute celebration?
“I think we live now in a day and age where clickbait is what people look for and you can shorten a five minute answer to three words. I didn’t do a good job at communicating what I wanted to say. I have a gratitude for being able to do this for a living and go out and compete. Winning an Open at Portrush is hard to describe. I’m achieving a dream – I was a kid growing up in Texas wanting to be a professional golfer. I wore pants because those guys wore pants. I don’t know why I’m so lucky to live my dreams but I’m very grateful for it. If anybody wants to listen to me, listen to all of it. At the end of the day, having success isn’t what fulfils the desires of your heart. Is it great to win? Heck yeah and I can’t wait to celebrate. But at the end of the day it doesn’t fill the deepest desires of my heart. It’s hard to describe when you haven’t lived it. Just because you win a golf tournament, it doesn’t make you happy. Maybe for a few days.”
Q: When it was over, you went out with a pretty good yell. Can you explain that release?
A: “It takes a high level of focus. I had a good size lead but it’s a major. The golf course is challenging. I made a double. You just don’t know. It doesn’t feel like it’s won until the ball is in the hole. Golf’s a funny game. Seeing my game after is a special feeling. It’s hard to describe but it’s something I’m very grateful for.”
Q: What was it like walking up 18?
“Hard to tell. It’s a very cool walk, it’s a very special walk. Walking up 18, I wasn’t sure I was going to get much support rom the crowd, I think they wanted someone else to win and I riled them. But I got a great reception and I heard a lot of support for me. It was a lot of fun. Walking up 18 with the tournament in your hands is hard to describe. I have a lot of gratitude for this, it takes a lot of patience and this was one of my best performances mentally, staying in it all week. To have only one mistake in the last 376 holes of a Major championship is how you’re going to win these things. We were great at staying dialled in and holing some crucial putts.
Q: I’ve never seen anyone so happy to share the spotlight as you were with your son
A: “He was trying to get up that hill on 18, he’s never been up a hill that big before. That’s part of the learning curve. It’s very cool to have him here. He has no idea what’s going on, he’s just wants to spend some time with me. It’s pretty cool.”
Q: His thoughts on winning
“It’s a very special feeling. It takes a lot of work to get to this point. It was a challenging week and the course was playing really tough. The only mistake I made was on eight but I played well. The PGA I struggled on the front nine but I pushed forward on the back nine. This one I built a lead, had the mistake on 8 and then pushed through again and won.”
Stay with us
Scottie Scheffler is on his way into the interview room for the winner’s press conference.
Ready for more?
So that’s it. Officially, The Open at Royal Portrush is over and it’s now Royal Birkdale’s year.
When will it be returning to the Dunluce Links? Steven Beacom asks that question in this column…
Baby Bennett
There are few more wholesome scenes than a golfer celebrating a win with their child. Bennett Scheffler has come through and stolen the show on the 18th green!
Scottie Scheffler cruised to a four-shot victory at Royal Portrush, while Rory McIlroy finished in a tie for seventh, seven shots behind.
Fans explore ‘The Shop’ at The Open for official merchandise