Xander Schauffele U.S. Open Odds: PGA Championship victor 11/1 to win at Pinehurst

Jaquob Crooke Updated: 14 Jun 24 07:58

Xander Schauffele lifted his first major title at the 2024 PGA Championship and the American is priced at 11/1 to go back-to-back at the U.S. Open in June.

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After a series of near-misses which included T2 finishes at the 2018 Open and 2019 Masters, Schauffele finally broke his major duck in a thrilling finale that saw him shoot the lowest 72-hole score in men's major history.

Starting the final round in a share of the lead with Collin Morikawa, Schauffele had Bryson DeChambeau and Viktor Hovland in hot pursuit but held his nerve on the 18th, holing from six feet for a birdie to wrap up the win.

It was a thoroughly-deserved victory for Schauffele, who had developed an unwanted track record of starting tournaments emphatically before fading out of contention. He'd not lifted a trophy since the Scottish Open in 2022 and had failed to close out leads at The Players and Wells Fargo Championship.

The 30-year-old had a target on his back after shooting a major record-equalling 62 in the first round to open up a lead at the front of the pack. Consecutive rounds of 68 were enough to ensure he was in the final pairing on Sunday, even if his three-shot lead had evaporated.

Schauffele's ability had never been in question, but now he was about to encounter a severe test of his mental strength.

He set the tone from the off. Rolling in a 30-footer for birdie on the opening hole, Schauffele showed no sign of a player who was going to be overawed by the occasion.

Another birdie followed on the fourth but with the chasing pack continuing to chip away at his lead, the American could ill-afford to let up and play conservative.

He came up clutch with a putt to save par on the sixth and delivered again with his trusted stick on the seventh. Even after an ugly bogey on the 10th, he responded in astonishing style with some excellent iron shots to birdie the 11th and 12th.

But there was still work to do.

DeChambeau sank his fourth birdie on the back nine to finish on 20-under-par, meaning Schauffele needed to muster a birdie himself on the 18th to avoid a play-off. That he did, producing a crisp chip to give himself an opportunity and after a lengthy study of the putt, sank his putt and raised his arms in sheer relief.

The U.S. Open is up next on June 13th and Schauffele will head to Pinehurst as the third favourite behind world number one Scottie Scheffler and world number two Rory McIlroy.

Despite his success at Valhalla, Schauffele admitted that Scheffler remains the figure that all of golf are chasing.

"All of us are climbing this massive mountain and at the top of the mountain is Scottie Scheffler," he said after lifting the Wanamaker Trophy. "I won this today, but I'm still not that close to Scottie Scheffler in the big scheme of things."