“Already the defending Olympic gold medalist, and you’re going there with the Claret Jug? That’s the stuff that dreams are made of.” – Dan Hicks on Xander Schauffele (-9, Champion)
“You combine [his calmness] with his ability to play the game, and then you throw in the injection of confidence, and you get a performance like that in the heat of battle. That was brilliant golf today.” – Paul McGinley on Live From on Schauffele
“If I’m him, I’m really concerned that I can putt as badly as he did in a major championship…this is a problem in his game.” – McGinley on Scottie Scheffler (-1, T-7th)
STAMFORD, Conn. – July 21, 2024 – NBC Sports presented exclusive final-round coverage of the 152nd Open Championship from Royal Troon Golf Club in Troon, Scotland, across NBC, Peacock, and USA Network, capped by Live From the Open studio coverage on GOLF Channel and Peacock. Xander Schauffele shot a final round of 65 to win his second career major and first Claret Jug.
152nd Open Championship – Final Leaderboard
Player | Total |
Xander Schauffele | -9 |
Justin Rose | -7 |
Billy Horschel | -7 |
Thriston Lawrence | -6 |
Russell Henley | -5 |
ON XANDER SCHAUFFELE (-9, Champion)
Hicks on Schauffele’s win: “Just an absolute clinic. 16 of 18 greens in regulation. And next stop? The Olympics in Paris...already the defending Olympic gold medalist, and you’re going there with the Claret Jug? That’s the stuff that dreams are made of.”
Hicks on the dominant win: “Just about as stress-free a championship major Sunday that you will ever see.”
McGinley: “There are no weaknesses in his game…You don’t need a high heart rate. You don’t need to be full of adrenaline. You’ve got to have a natural way and poise about you and I think that’s part of his personality. You combine that with his ability to play the game and a brilliant short game, and then you throw in the injection of confidence, and you get a performance like that in the heat of battle. That was brilliant golf today.”
Chamblee on Schauffele’s improvements: “At the highest level, trying to find room for improvement is very hard and it comes with risk. To see someone take that risk on and pick up speed and get more precise…He used that to reel the field in.”
Wood on Schauffele’s confidence: “He doesn’t need to tell himself, ‘I can do this.’ He has such a recent memory of doing it, he knows it.”
Donald on Schauffele: “He is leaning on what he learned at that win at the PGA Championship right now.”
Faxon: “It’s so impressive what he’s doing with all parts of his game. He’s in complete control.”
Kaufman on Schauffele’s back nine: “What’s impressed me so much on this back nine is the decisiveness. He’s not playing fast, but he’s not playing back and forth on anything. He knows exactly what he wants to do on every shot.”
Lerner: “Soul-crushing back nine and he made it seem like a walk in the park.”
Wood on Schauffele’s caddie, Austin Kaiser: “I’m telling you, a lot of caddies work hard out here, but I’m not sure anyone outworks that guy.”
Hicks on Schauffele: “He’s just a machine of consistency.”
Tirico: “He’s having one of those magical back nines in a major.”
ON JUSTIN ROSE (-7, T-2nd)
Chamblee: “I’m sure Justin would love to have the 12th hole back, but other than that, it was awesome to watch.”
Wood on Rose: “It’s got to be difficult, you’re in the lead all day and then all of a sudden you look up and you’re two back.”
Hicks on Rose taking his driver off the deck on 15: “This is a guy who’s 43 years old and doesn’t know how many more chances he’s going to have. Why not put your foot on the gas?”
ON THRISTON LAWRENCE (-6, 4th)
Hicks on Lawrence’s fourth-place finish: “He showed everybody a lot, that he might have one of these major championships in his grasp before his career is over.”
Tirico: “He’s in control of his emotions and he’s in control of his golf ball.”
Faxon: “He keep surprising us and just has his foot on the gas with beautiful drives.”
Faxon on Lawrence’s performance on 9 and 10: “He sure looks very calm going through the two hardest holes here.”
ON RUSSELL HENLEY (-5, 5th)
Kaufman: “He’s been trying to stay loose, swinging his arms back and forth like Michael Phelps before getting in the pool.”
ON SHANE LOWRY (-4, 6th)
Hicks on Lowry’s sixth-place finish: “He’s just built for these Opens. The weather that came in yesterday, the style of play, the creativity you need. He may get another one of these someday, but not going to happen this time.”
ON SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER (-1, T-7th)
McGinley on Scheffler’s putting: “If I’m him, I’m really concerned that I can putt as badly as he did in a major championship…this is a problem in his game.”
Hicks: “This has been a disastrous finish for the World No. 1.”
Curt Byrum: “That three-putt double bogey on No. 9 just took all of the wind out of his sails. He hasn’t been the same since that happened.”
Hicks: “It’s a testament to his ball striking how he stays in these big championships.”
ON THE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP
Donald on the magic of the Claret Jug: “Seeing this gives me so many memories of me as a kid watching the Open Championship. Seve (Ballesteros) doing his fist pump, (Nick) Faldo at Muirfield, the heroes that I aspired to be.”
Donald on the final nine holes of the Open: “This is when the pressure starts to mount, when the players start thinking about the finish line. Stay in the moment, keep hitting good shots.”
--NBC SPORTS--
