Champions From The 152nd Open
The robust list of winners include the Champion Golfer's epic 2024 to standout efforts by qualifiers, amateurs, Royal Troon, the R&A and Scotland's west coast.
The 152nd Open maintained Troon’s streak of delivering drama and another American success story in its tenth hosting duties. The Quad’s long list of winners from a fun week in South Ayrshire…
Champions
Xander Schauffele. It’s one thing to win two majors in a season and to go 8th-1st-7th-1st. Schauffele now has top 20 finishes in 11 straight majors. Given the variety of courses, setups, conditions and potential landmines that await in Grand Slam events, Schauffele’s 2024 major season is the best since Jordan Spieth’s epic 2015. Schauffele’s two wins came on courses calling for radically different mindsets: a soft Valhalla birdiefest vs a chaotic Troon demanding extreme precision. In an era of so many major one-and-dones, Schauffele’s confidence, demeanor, mechanics, drive and maturity will make him a dangerous force for years to come. And unlike another player known for raising his game at majors, Schauffele plays as well outside of Grand Slam weeks. But he does have that special knack for thriving when the screws are tightened a bit. Not bad for a public course late bloomer from San Diego State.
Justin Rose and Billy Horschel (T2, -7). The veterans rallied to finish tied for second and will make return visits to the event they adore. Rose gave Brits hope throughout Sunday and with the finish he’s inching closer to Hall of Fame status if not already there thanks to his Gold Medal. Post-round each day, Rose enjoyed reflecting on all aspects of Troon and The Open. He unexpectedly grew emotional deep into his session Sunday as his chief twenty-percenter was giving R&A officials a disgustingly ill-timed wrap-it-up sign, sadly oblivious to how much his client savored reflecting on a remarkable performance at age 44. Caddie Mark Fulcher says The Open is the most important championship in the world to Rose and the effort to enter Final Qualifying was never much of a decision. Wife Kate deserves a special shout-out for reuniting her husband with “Fooch,” who has been on the bag for Rose’s finest moments and is better able than most to handle Rose’s excessive caddie-bashing. Meanwhile, Horschel’s incredible three-birdie finish and outspoken affinity for Troon’s challenges earned him new fans. Best of all, Horschel demonstrated that there are American male golfers—from Florida!—who adore links golf and can play them with heart and creativity.
Royal Troon. The links may be the quintessential (non-St Andrews) Open venue in terms of variety, atmosphere and (good) difficulty even though it’s witnessed multiple Open scoring record-breaking weeks (not this time!). A sound course setup by Grant Moir and team, and better rough management by longtime keeper of the green Billy McLachlan’s well-oiled team allowed the links to remain playable even in the worst winds. Most of the tees worked for the weird winds, though the sixth had to be moved up in the name of letting players reach the fairway and retain their dignity. But the new tees also created fan congestion and access nightmares similar to other venues adjusting to modern distances. Last week, the real star involved the normally overlooked outgoing opening stretch. The first through sixth played an outsized role this year instead of serving as downwind pushovers. Only Troon quibble: the course was too green—i.e. artificially irrigated—and noticely softer going into the week compared to other nearby links. That should not happen. But the R&A got the greens firmed up enough in time to show off the best attributes of Willie Fernie and James Braid’s design.
Postage Stamp. One of Troon’s two iconic holes received nothing but praise from players for its enjoyable demands, particularly in comparison to the other threes that’ve lost some charm with added length. A back(ish) pin placement was employed Saturday, causing the final twosome to find the Coffin after trying to reach a sucker hole location. The added arena grandstand changed the hole dynamics this year by blocking wind from players standing at the tee. But in no way was this intentional or a bad thing. Players could not convince themselves the wind would matter as much as it did in round one. Quibbles? Sunday’s front pin never seemed to have the sense of danger seen in early rounds (except for causing a key Billy Horschel bogey). The righthand bunkers are too small and deep, putting too much activity in a tiny space. Up at the green, the infinity effect created by super-tight turf surrounding the green teetered somewhere between fun and foolishness.
Former Champion Golfers Of The Year. Padraig Harrington and Darren Clarke made the weekend while many team-dependent stars half their age flew home Friday night. Two-time champion Harrington finished T22 at age 52. Continuing the Irish theme, Shane Lowry was the low past champion after a final round 68 and sixth-place finish. All three survived the brutal conditions and delivered very respectable performances to help offset a rough week for other former Champion Golfers Of The Year. We’ll deal with them later.
Final Qualifying Grads. Justin Rose (T2), Dan Brown (T10), Abraham Ancer (T58) and Luis Masaveu (T78) all made the cut, with Rose and Brown in contention to win The Open after arriving from the 36-hole Final Qualifying. They provided even more reason for the R&A to consider returning field spots to the 36-hole day while trimming some qualifying series finishers at certain random professional events.
Matthew Jordan. The Hoylake Hero proved he can play an Open links other than his home course. An even-par performance and T10 allows him to plan for a Royal Portrush trip in 2025.
Wind. Technology-diffusing blasts off the Firth muted several annoying modern trends while reminding fans what it looks like to watch a championship when multiple skills called upon. The Golf Gods have let us down at recent majors on the weather front. Nice to see them call in some favors for the final major. Best of all, the conditions rewarded those who prepared, adjusted and embraced the insanity. Just the way it should be.
“Amateurs”. The young logoclads pursuing the Silver Medal blend in with the older clads these days, but an impressive four amateurs made the cut, including Calum Scott (+8, T43). He’s the ninth Scot to medal and all have done so in Scotland. Besides the Nairn native, others making the weekend included American Tommy Morrison (+11, T60), Amateur champion Jacob Skov (+11, T60, and Final Qualifying grad Luis Masaveu (+18, T78). I saw Morrison at The Open Shop Sunday afternoon and he raved about the entire Open player experience, the challenges of Royal Troon and the increasing comfort he found each day playing before huge crowds. The University of Texas junior-to-be
Joe Dean. The 30-year-old former Morrison’s (supermarket) driver finished +5/T25 and used The Open stage to show how you can avoid the herd and still play well. After earning his DP World Tour card, Dean had to stall the start to his season due to a lack of money, then recorded a big check and has quietly become a fascinating study. On competitive days, he does not hit balls before the round.