Xander Schauffele’s emphatic message, Nick Dunlap’s historic double and Tiger Woods’ gruesome scars

Welcome to another edition of The Grind, where we can’t believe how much has changed in two months. Back in May, Xander Schauffele was having to answer questions about not being able to win the big one. Now after claiming a second major, the only questions left is how many will he wind up with and when is he eligible for the World Golf Hall of Fame?

I picked a good one when I officially named him my new favorite player at the 2021 Masters, huh? He might just be the best player in the world. OK, let’s debate that and talk about everything else going on in golf. The rain has left Scotland and come to New York so there’s not much else to do right now anyway.

WE’RE BUYING

Xander Schauffele: What we witnessed on Sunday at Royal Troon, in particular on that back nine, was nothing short of legendary. Sure, the weather got a little better from what we saw on Saturday at the British Open, but a bogey-free 65? And a back-nine 31? With a major on the line? What a badass. And in the Wanamaker Trophy and the claret jug, he now holds the two best golf awards to party with.

We see you flashing that sign, Xander. Like Michael Jordan flashing the six fingers when he won a sixth NBA title. What an emphatic message to the rest of the golf world. Two majors in two months is pretty darn special. And there’s no reason to think he won’t win more. How in control was Xander over all aspects of his game? Well, consider the fact that he never even came close to making a bogey in that final round. The longest par putt he faced on Sunday was two feet, 10 inches! That's insane. And that came after a missed birdie attempt. The two times he actually missed a green, he nearly chipped in. Also, look how his major season stacks up:

Not only is he the Champion Golfer of the Year, but he’s the clear cut Major Champion Golfer of the Year, finishing 15 strokes ahead of World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler in those four events. Congrats to Xander. And kudos to whichever parent decided to call my fellow Alexander by the much, much cooler name of Xander instead of Alex.

The rest of the leaderboard: While Schauffele was by far the best player on Sunday, I was impressed by all the challengers. No one choked! Good job, guys! Johnny Miller would have been bored if he was still on the call!

Sure, Daniel Brown fell to T-10, but c’mon, he had a great week. A "gutted" Justin Rose hung with Xander all day, Thriston Lawrence played awesome (and super aggressive), and Billy Horschel, who has never sniffed winning a major, shot 68 as the 54-hole leader. These guys should all be proud!

Nick Dunlap: In claiming the Barracuda Championship, the 20-year-old is the first PGA Tour rookie to win twice in the same season since … Xander Schauffele!

But even more impressive is he’s the first golfer to win on the PGA Tour as an amateur and a pro in the same season. This, after becoming the only golfer other than Tiger Woods to win both the U.S. Amateur and U.S. Junior. So, yeah, like Xander, we are probably looking at a Hall-of-Fame candidate in the making here. In the meantime, enjoy that first first-place check, Nick!

WE’RE SELLING

Rory McIlroy’s week: OK, now that major championship drought is officially a decade long. And it was punctuated by one of McIlroy’s career-worst major performances. Yes, he got the bad end of the draw in terms of weather, but the four-time major champ looked doomed to miss the cut from his opening bogey Thursday, and he admitted to starting to plan his next vacation just 22 holes into the tournament. And then there was this failed club toss … to his own face.

Ouch. Hope you have a nice vacation, Rory. You need it.

Tiger Woods’ year in majors: Or, rather, year, because he only played in the majors this season. I always thought I would rather watch this legend play no matter what he’s shooting, but it’s getting tougher with each major missed cut. And who could expect him to do more when this is his right leg?!

I told my 6-year-old daughter he should just retire and she (smartly) said, “Why? He can play if he wants. He can still have fun.” She’s right, of course, but it didn’t seem like Woods was having much fun out there shooting 14 over par for two days. When you’ve ascended to the heights he has in his career, it must be incredibly frustrating to go through these lows following that car crash in 2021. But he’s a legendary player and a legendary battler. See you in December, Tiger.

LIV’s big guns in majors: Other than Bryson DeChambeau, of course, who is excused for his missed cut at Royal Troon after playing so well in the first three, including winning his second U.S. Open. And, yes, Jon Rahm made an early Sunday charge, but still, not the season he was hoping for. Although, at least he seems past that nasty foot problem.

Same with Brooks Koepka, who was the only LIV player to make the cut in all four majors, but didn’t finish in the top 25 in any of them. After a T-6 at the Masters, Cam Smith did nothing the rest of the year. And Dustin Johnson’s most memorable moment was the Friday quote he gave about wife Paulina Gretzky not being a fan of Scottish weather and vacationing to Saint-Tropez instead. And, yes, I went to her Instagram page to confirm that she was, indeed, in Saint-Tropez. Why? Because that’s just what reporters do, OK?

Xander’s POY case: To double down on me being a big-J journo, I will now make the case that my favorite golfer is NOT the PGA Tour Player of the Year. I get it, two majors is more than one, but if we’re actually measuring the entire year and not just four events over four months, it’s still Scottie Scheffler. And it’s not particularly close.

Scheffler has three times as many wins as Schauffele and he’s won six of the 10 biggest events of the year! He’s won five consecutive designated events that he’s teed it up in! It’s crazy! That being said, IF Xander wins the FedEx Cup, then I’m willing to flip things in his favor. See how fair and unbiased I am?

ON TAP

The men’s majors are over for 2024, but the PGA Tour rolls on with the 3M Open, AKA that one they play in Minnesota at TPC Twin Cities, AKA that course that makes Minnesota live up to its billing as the Land of 10,000 lakes. Let’s just say, we’re not in Troon anymore. Also, the second annual(?) Pelham Buddies Golf Trip will be taking place once again at Turning Stone Resort Casino, where I will try to wrestle the championship belt away from defending champ Steve McDermott, while also trying to win the two-man scramble portion of the event with Steve. Giddyup, pards!

Random tournament fact: Lee Hodges won this event by SEVEN shots last year to claim his first PGA Tour title. Wow, I did not remember that. What a dominant performance.

RANDOM PROP BETS OF THE WEEK

—TPC Twin Cities will play as tough as Royal Troon: 1 MILLION-to-1 odds

—Nick Dunlap will win again this week: 40-to-1 odds (Actual odds, value!)

—Nick Dunlap will win again in his career: LOCK

TWEET/PHOTO OF THE WEEK

With all the Dan Brown “Da Vinci Code” jokes going around with Daniel Brown in contention at the Open, CBS’ Kyle Porter reached out to the famous author about it and got this amazing reply:

What a legend. It’s been about two decades, but I’ll never forget that summer I went down a Dan Brown book hole. That guy can craft a real page-turner.

CLUB PRO GUY TWEET OF THE WEEK

IYKYK, as the kids say.

VIRAL VIDEO(S) OF THE WEEK

In the latest example of YouTubers taking over golf, Phil Mickelson took on Grant Horvat ahead of the Open Championship. And lost. If you’ve got a couple free hours, have a look:

Yes, the six-time major champ was giving five shots, but he only shot 72 on his home course of Rancho Santa Fe to Grant’s 75. And as a result, he had to wear joggers at the Open. But in a strange twist, the 54-year-old found a new favorite style!

But it also led to another wager that didn’t work out as well for me as I bet on Tiger over Phil at Royal Troon. Whoops.

THIS WEEK IN PUBLIC DISPLAYS OF AFFECTION

Xander’s dad and lifelong coach, Stefan, wasn’t at Valhalla in May to see his son win his first major, but he was right off the 18th green at Royal Troon Sunday. And the two shared an emotional moment:

Ah, man. Fathers and sons, am I right?. And I’m not afraid to admit the tears were flowing in my house as well. Xander later said that Stefan would be calling the shots at the after party. Literally. As in the booze they’d consume from the claret jug.

Of course, after that monumental victory, they could have filled it up with motor oil and it would have still tasted good.

THIS WEEK IN PUBLIC DISPLAYS OF AFFECTION (NON-STEFAN SCHAUFFELE DIVISION)

Nothing could top that embrace between Stefan and Xander, but Nick Dunlap had a nice moment with his mom following his first win as a pro in which she said she’s going to tell her boss she’s taking the week off to come see him at the 3M Open:

At this rate, unless she really wants to keep working, Mrs. Dunlap can probably go ahead and give her two weeks notice.

THIS WEEK IN CELEBRITY GOLFERS

Sauce Gardner had another productive, but wild week on the golf course. First, his chance of breaking 80 for the first time was derailed by a coyote that literally scared him off the course:

Hey, better safe than sorry. It would be so Jets for them to lose a star due to a bite from a rabid coyote. Then Sauce shot 81 in a simulator!

Look at all those notes! And, finally, he shared how far his golf swing has come in the past few weeks:

We look forward to seeing you out there again next off-season, Sauce.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"He's actually quite nice, too. You'd almost like him to be a bit of a wanker." —Justin Rose’s caddie, Mark Fulcher, with some kind words about Xander Schauffele. Even after he stomped on his boss’ heart. Seriously, what’s not to love about Xander?!

THIS AND THAT

RIP to Mark Carnevale, the former PGA Tour Rookie of the Year turned radio broadcaster, who sadly passed away at 64. Here was his fantastic call of Xander winning at Valhalla in May:

Thanks, Carny, for making a lot of my car rides more enjoyable. … Congrats to Thailand’s Chanettee Wannasaen for winning her second career LPGA title at the Dana Open. Nick Dunlap isn’t the only 20-year-old with two tour titles. … Hideki Matsuyama made an 18th consecutive major championship cut, the longest current streak. Only 21 more to catch the record shared by Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods! … Congrats to Michael Jordan, who, according to Xander, recently beat Xander in a match. So by the transitive property, MJ is actually the Champion Golfer of the Year! … And, finally, it’s time to talk about my hole-in-one again because I just received this incredible framed display from Oak Hill:

Thanks to the wonderful people there! What a classy presentation!

RANDOM QUESTIONS TO PONDER

Where will my wife let me hang in the house?

How much did Xander/Stefan drink out of the claret jug?

Is it too late to change my name to Xander?