Xander Schauffele says his Open Championship celebration won’t challenge Bob MacIntyre’s Scottish Open party
Xander Schauffele won his second major of the year at The Open Championship on Sunday, July 21, at the prestigious Royal Troon Golf Course. He played some fabulous golf in the final round, shooting a 65 to clinch the Claret Jug. He thus became the second golfer in history to shoot 65 or lower in the final rounds of two majors in the same season. Prior to this, he shot 65 at the PGA Championship to win his maiden major.
It was a significant victory for the American golfer, but he decided to have a low-key celebration. During the winner's press conference, Schauffele was asked if he would be celebrating his win like Robert 'Bob' MacIntyre did after winning the Genesis Scottish Open, just a week before The Open.
Schauffele acknowledged MacIntyre's win at his home open and shared that he "doesn't like to drink a lot," and hasn't had many opportunities to celebrate. He added that now, however, there would be some celebrations with his family and team:
"That was an incredible win for Bob. I don't know if I'm going to have as much of an embrace, not being Scottish. But it's going to be...it'll be lowkey for most, but for me, I don't really drink a whole lot ever. And I don't really get to celebrate too many things ever. This game is cruel at times." (2:50)
"So I have my whole family, most of my team, here and I'm just curious to see what my dad's going to pick as a first drink to drink out of this," said Schauffele (via Sports Scene's YouTube channel)
MacIntyre earlier said that celebrations got "absolutely wild" after he won the 2024 Genesis Scottish Open. Speaking of his celebration, the Scot said (via The Independent):
“I’m not a big drinker, but when you get moments like that that’s a childhood dream and a lifetime goal, and you’ve got family and friends there that have backed you since you were a young kid, I think it was quite right to go absolutely wild. I think we did a good job of that."
“After this week’s over, I’ll sit back, sit down with my team, and we’ll reflect on it and probably celebrate again because, again, it was a lifetime goal of mine," he added.
MacIntyre was the runner-up at the Genesis Scottish Open in 2023 when Rory McIlroy won the event. A year later, he won by the same margin by which he had lost the previous year.
Xander Schauffele's father gets emotional as his son wins The Open
Xander Schauffele's father, Stefan, was at Royal Troon to watch his son win his second major. When Schauffele won the 2024 PGA Championship, his dad had not been able to make it to the venue, and watched the event on TV.
At the Open Championship, Stefan got to see his son win the Open Championship in person and celebrate his big victory. It was an emotional moment for the proud father as he hugged Xander, just after the latter had clinched the victory.
With this win, Xander Schauffele earned $3.1 million in prize money, along with 750 FedEx Cup points. He jumped to second place in the Official World Golf Rankings.