Xander Schauffele

Xander Schauffele used power off the tee and an iron-clad game into the greens to win the Genesis Scottish Open.

In all Schauffele made 17 birdies to rank third in the field. A power-precision combination served Schauffele well at the Renaissance Club in winning his seventh PGA Tour title. Much like his win at his last PGA Tour start at the Travelers Championship, Schauffele made things more difficult than they needed to be.

Former San Diego State men's golf All-American Xander Schauffele won his second straight professional tournament Sunday at the Genesis Scottish Open at The ...

In his three years on Montezuma Mesa, Schauffele amassed 21 top-10 finishes, 16 top-five performances and two individual titles before graduating with a degree in social science. Schauffele shot an even-par 70 in Sunday's round on the windy 7,237-yard track to beat Kurt Kitayama by a stroke at 7-under 273. Schauffele is the fifth American to win the Scottish Open, joining Michael Allen (1989), Tom Lehman (1997), Phil Mickelson (2013) and Rickie Fowler (2015). According to golf statistician Justin Ray, Schauffele is the sixth player in the last 10 seasons to enter a major coming off wins in back-to-back PGA Tour starts (The Open is next week) along with Tiger Woods (2013 entering The Masters), Rory McIlroy (2014 entering PGA Championship), Jordan Spieth (2015 entering The Open), Jason Day (2016 entering The Masters) and Dustin Johnson (2016 entering The Open). Only McIlroy followed with a major victory.

Winless for more than two years, Xander Schauffele picked up his fourth win in the last 12 months Sunday when he overcame a rough patch in the middle of his ...

Spieth had two birdies, three bogeys and a double bogey on the back nine and shot 72 to tie for 10th. The last player to win twice in a row before a major was Dustin Johnson in 2016, and then he tied for ninth in the Open Championship at Royal Troon. But he took bogey on the 18th and shot 67 to finish third. Equally important was the 17th, when he putted from behind the green some 8 feet by the hole and made it for par to keep his cushion. It was tougher for Alex Smalley, who only needed a par on the 18th to earn a spot. But he closed with a 75 and was headed back home across the Atlantic.

Xander Schauffele won his second straight start, capturing the 2022 Genesis Scottish Open after a strong back nine propelled him to victory.

“There’s been a lot of talk about it being the 150th at St Andrews, so it’s going to be really cool. “I was telling myself that, it doesn’t really have to be pretty,” Schauffele said. He didn’t take advantage of the par-5 10th, but that didn’t faze Schauffele. He made birdies on No. 14 and 16 to pull back away from the field. The par-4 finishing hole played as the most difficult all week, but Schauffele’s bogey on the last wasn’t punishing. He shot an even-par 70 during the final round to top Kurt Kitayama by one shot and J.H. Kim by two for his seventh career PGA Tour title. The first sign of struggle came on the par-3 sixth, when his tee shot drifted left into a bunker.