Scheffler completes dominant Open win at Portrush

The Open Championship, final leaderboard

-17 Scheffler (US); -13 English (US); -12 Gotterup (US); -11 Clark (US), Fitzpatrick (Eng); -10 MacIntyre (Sco), Schauffele (US), McIlroy (NI)

Selected: -9 DeChambeau (US); -7 Rose (Eng), Hatton (Eng); -6 Aberg (Swe)

Full leaderboard

Less than one hour after he teed off on Sunday afternoon Scottie Scheffler had effectively won his first Open Championship title.

The world number one was only walking off the fourth green but the game was already up. A starting four-shot advantage over the field had grown to seven at a sun-kissed Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland.

A third birdie of the round, on the fifth, further underlined his dominance and the only question left remaining was if he would surpass Tiger Woods' modern record of an eight-shot win, achieved in 2000 at St Andrews.

In the end, he fell short of that but a 68 saw him win on 17 under par, four shots clear of fellow American Harris English, who closed with a 66.

"I know I wasn't the fan favourite so I appreciate you guys coming out to support," said Scheffler referring to world number two Rory McIlroy playing in his homeland.

"Overall it was a really fun week to be able to play in front of such a great crowd."

Last week's surprise Scottish Open winner Chris Gotterup was one further back after a 67, while England's Matt Fitzpatrick, who hovered around the top of the leaderboard all week, birdied two of the last three to join Wyndham Clark (65) in joint fourth on 11 under.

Rory McIlroy looked emotional as he was welcomed on to the final green like the champion by thousands of adoring fans.

He tapped in for a par that saw him finish alongside Scotland's Robert MacIntyre and last year's winner Xander Schauffele on 10 under.

The new champion golfer of the year though is Scheffler and given his recent dominance the comparisons with Woods are only going to grow stronger.

This stat adds to that feeling. A total of 1,197 days elapsed between Woods first major victory and his fourth (the 1997 Masters and 2000 Open). A total of 1,197 days have elapsed between Scheffler's first major victory and his fourth (the 2022 Masters and 2025 Open).

It is a second major title of the year for Scheffler, after winning May's US PGA Championship, and a fourth in total, adding to his two Masters. He now only needs the US Open to become the seventh player to complete the career Grand Slam.

Victory on the Antrim coast is the American's second title outside of his home country, after also claiming gold at last year's Olympics in Paris, France.

It is not bad for a man who spoke at the start of the week about how professional golf was "not a fulfilling life" and questioned "the point" of pursuing victories with such zeal.

How the final round unfolded

There had been fanciful ideas that McIlroy, enjoying what has been a week-long lap of honour in his home country, would provide the fairytale ending.

Back competing in his native Northern Ireland for the first time since winning the Masters to complete the career Grand Slam, McIlroy, bounced along with a boisterous backing as he posted a 66 on Saturday.

He needed another fast start on Sunday if he was to emulate his reeling in of Scheffler from six back at the 2022 Tour Championship in Atlanta.

Two birdies and a bogey in his opening five holes was anything but. Scheffler meanwhile covered the same holes in three under par.

The thunderous atmosphere that had welcomed McIlroy on to the first tee suddenly fell flat.

There was little challenge from elsewhere.

Scheffler's playing partner Li Haotong, who had just three bogeys in his first three rounds, posted two in his opening four holes. Matt Fitzpatrick mixed two bogeys with three birdies on the front nine.

And then.

Out of nowhere, Scheffler took two swipes to escape from a fairway bunker on the eighth and recorded a double bogey.

Meanwhile, up on the ninth, Gotterup was knocking in a birdie putt to get to 11 under. The lead was suddenly four.

But Scheffler returned to, as McIlroy put it on Saturday, "playing like Scottie".

He fired to four feet for a bounceback birdie on the ninth. A par at the next, coupled with Gotterup and Li bogeys saw the lead return to six. Game definitely over.

Without Scheffler this would have been an Open for the ages.

The leaderboard pulsed in the jostle for the minor places. American names came to the fore as the Europeans largely failed to shine in the last global event before September's Ryder Cup.

High finishes at majors earn big points as the race for one of the six automatic places in each 12-strong team heats up.

Two-time major winner Bryson DeChambeau closed with a 64 to reach nine under - although he must have been stewing over his opening seven-over 78 on Thursday.

Wyndham Clark hit a 65 to close on 11 under, Gotterup a 67 for -12 and English split the difference with a 66 to finish a shot better still in outright second. Defending champion Xander Schauffele was briefly in a tie for second before finishing on 10 under

MacIntyre, who didn't get the fast start he needed, finished supremely well, with four birdies in his final seven holes to finish level with McIlroy, while Fitzpatrick catapulted above them both with his late birdies to add some European colour to a star-spangled leaderboard.

Of others likely to be in Europe's team at Bethpage in New York, Tyrrell Hatton holed nothing as he finished back on seven under. That was the same score as his fellow Englishman Justin Rose. Sweden's Ludvig Aberg had a ruinous eight on the par-four 11th among seven birdies in a closing 70 that saw him finish on six under.