The nerveless final-hole putt that won the PGA Championship

American Xander Schauffele birdied the final hole to win the PGA Championship by one shot over LIV Golf’s Bryson DeChambeau to claim his first major title.

Schauffele put the finishing touches on a wire-to-wire victory at the year’s second major with a closing six-under-par 65 that left him at 21 under for the week at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky on Sunday (Monday AEST).

Needing a closing birdie for the win, Schauffele’s tee shot at the 18th perched up on the edge of a fairway bunker and forced him to take a compromised stance inside the hazard for his second shot, which he left just in front of the green.

Schauffele displayed nerves of steel as he chipped to six feet then drained the most important putt of his career for the lowest winning score to par at a major championship.

“I told myself this is my opportunity – capture it,” Schauffele said.

DeChambeau carded a bogey-free seven-under-par 64 to finish two shots ahead of Viktor Hovland (66), whose spirited effort to become the first Norwegian to win a major came undone at the final hole.

Xander Schauffele with the Wanamaker Trophy.Credit: Getty

A day that began with seven players within four strokes of overnight co-leaders Schauffele and Collin Morikawa turned into a thrilling three-horse race across the back nine at Valhalla between Schauffele, DeChambeau and Hovland.

DeChambeau and Hovland were playing in the third-to-last pairing and each set up pressure-packed 10-foot birdie putts on the final hole. DeChambeau drained his but Hovland’s effort curled away. He went on to make bogey and finished third.

That left the outcome in the hands of Schauffele. On the par-four 17th, he did well to save par after his tee shot caught a fairway bunker, before sealing the deal at the 18th while DeChambeau watched it unfold on a nearby screen. DeChambeau saw the winning putt fall, and walked all the way back to the 18th to join the other players congratulating the 30-year-old.

“I gave it my all. I put as much effort as I possibly could into it and I knew that my B game would be enough,” DeChambeau said. “It’s just clearly somebody played incredibly well. Xander’s well deserving of a major championship.”

Meanwhile, Scottie Scheffler took a long look at the scoreboard off the 18th green after finishing his final round. A few minutes later, after signing for his six-under-par round of 65, Scheffler put his head on the scorer’s table and “about fell asleep”.

“I’m trying to figure out how quickly I can get home from here and, yeah, that’s pretty much it. I think I’m just fairly tired and ready to get home,” Scheffler said.

It had been two-and-a-half gruelling days since Scheffler was arrested in the pre-dawn hours of Friday, shortly after arriving at the golf course, and charged with felony assault of a police officer. He was released in time to make his second-round tee time and kept himself in contention with a 66.

However, the lack of sleep and a regular tournament routine caught up with him on Saturday. His PGA Tour record of 42 consecutive rounds of par or better was snapped with a 73.

“I think on the golf course, I’ve always been proud of my toughness out there,” he said after the round. “I love competing. I love trying to get the most of my game out here.

“I typically try to keep the off-course life as quiet as possible, and this week obviously was not that way, so was a bit different in that sense. But I’m proud of how Teddy [Scott, caddie] and I went around this week and competed and I was able to post a decent finish towards the end of the week.

“Kind of running on fumes.”

Reuters, with AP

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