Well, we told you things happen at the PGA Championship ! This year’s edition of golf’s workingman’s major had more story lines than a George R.R. Martin novel, and it ended in an old-fashioned Kentucky photo finish.
Fresh off of one of the more weird and exhilarating golf weeks in recent memory (and that’s saying something because men’s golf has been extremely weird the past few years), we’re here to sort out the winners and losers from four wild days at Valhalla Golf Club. Take a moment to catch your breath, and then let’s dive into the full-fledged barn burner that just took place in Kentucky. Coming into this PGA Championship—and seemingly into every major championship —Schauffele was a nervous contender to win.
He was in some ways an obvious choice: He had 11 professional triumphs on tour, 12 top-10 finishes in majors since 2017, and the established profile of a future major champion. He was seeking an end to his frustration. On Thursday, he shot an opening-round 62, and still, I doubted.
He’d come so close so many times that I had churlishly begun to wonder whether the gifted but often befuddled Schauffele had what it took to close the show on the big stage. Never have I been happier to be proved wrong. Schauffele followed up that 62 with back-to-back 68s on Friday and Saturday, and on the 72nd hole, he rolled in a tricky 6-foot birdie to take down the resurgent but still strange Bryson DeChambeau to win his first career major.
The scene was a beatif.