Xander Schauffele has revealed that his caddie was 'freaking out' just minutes before he won The Open after storming into the lead on the final day. The 30-year-old finished on nine-under-par with six birdies in his last round, leaving him two shots clear of runners-up Justin Rose and Billy Horschel.
It marked Schauffele's second major title of the year, having won the PGA Championship at Valhalla two months ago. Reflecting on his victory in an interview with Golf Channel, he revealed that he was surprisingly calm as he stepped up to the 18th tee but the same could not be said for his caddie, Austin Kaiser.
"I think just doing it enough times and getting close, you sort of start tipping it your way in terms of the self-belief meter and that win at the PGA [Championship] definitely helped me on that back nine," he said.
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Looking back at Kaiser's reaction, Schauffele laughed as he recalled: "You know, I was kind of calm. When we were walking up, when I was walking up on 18, I looked at Austin and I said I was kind of surprisingly calm, like I surprised myself how calm I was coming down and Austin looked at me and he said he almost puked on the 18th tee.
"So he said he was more calm at Valhalla [but] freaking out here. And we, you know, we were in different parts there. So we made a good team today."
Schauffele received a standing ovation en route to the 18th green before sealing par and finishing his final round on six-under-par with a score of 65. His victory meant that all four of this year's majors were won by American players, with Bryson DeChambeau and Scottie Scheffler triumphing at the US Open and Masters respectively.
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The newly-crowned Open champion is now eyeing a career Grand Slam despite entering the year without a major to his name, with his strong recent form inspiring him to aim as high as possible.
"Yeah, I mean, before I had any majors, it's something I've always wanted," said Schauffele. "I'm one step closer and still have a long way to go, but if you don't see yourself doing it, you're never going to do it.
"If you look hard enough, you can always find it. It's something, when you feel like you need an extra kick in the butt, there's several easy ways to motivate yourself. There's still a lot of things that I'd like to do in my career and this is a very big leap towards that. The fire is still burning, maybe brighter than ever."
