Xander Schauffele has answered his critics in emphatic fashion with a watershed wire-to-wire victory at the PGA Championship in Kentucky.
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Schauffele carded a final round of 65 at Valhalla to secure his long-awaited maiden major title, winning by a shot from fellow American Bryson DeChambeau (64) with Norway's Viktor Hovland (66) two strokes further back in third.
The Tokyo Olympics champion held his nerve to make a title-clinching birdie at the 72nd hole for a 21-under total, the lowest to-par score in major championship history, eclipsing Australian Jason Day's 2015 PGA Championship-winning tally at Whistling Straits.
The 30-year-old had boasted a dozen top-10 finishes at the majors, including runner-up showings at the British Open in 2018 and Masters in 2019, without previously breaking through.
"I am very satisfied. I'm tired. Once I sat down in scoring, I felt a little bit more tired. But just a whirlwind of emotions," Schauffele said.
The Californian held a three-shot lead after also equalling the lowest single-round score for a second time with a stunning opening 62, but came into the final round tied with two-time major winner Collin Morikawa.
A birdie on the first helped Schauffele reclaim the outright lead and further gains on the fourth, seventh and ninth took him into the back nine two ahead.
A clumsy bogey on the par-5 10th and Hovland's birdie on the 12th meant the pair were suddenly tied and Hovland moved in front for the first time with a birdie on the 13th.
Schauffele responded superbly to pick up shots on the 11th and 12th to reclaim the lead before DeChambeau joined playing partner Hovland on Schauffele's heels with a birdie on the 16th after his pulled drive clattered into the trees and bounced back into the fairway.
DeChambeau holed from 10 feet for birdie on the 18th to join Schauffele on 20 under before Hovland failed to convert from the same distance and also missed the par putt.
Schauffele bravely saved par from right of the 17th green but was unfortunate to see his drive on the last stop just short of a fairway bunker, leaving him with a hugely awkward stance.
With both feet in the sand, Schauffele hit a superb shot short of the green, pitched up to six feet and held steady to hole the winning putt.
It was the perfect riposte to those who viewed him as something of an underachiever, especially after being overhauled by Scottie Scheffler in the last round of the Players Championship in March and by Rory McIlroy at Quail Hollow last week.
"I knew I had to birdie the last hole, looking up at the board," Schauffele said.
"I was trying to squeak a birdie in there somehow just to have some kind of cushion. It was a hectic birdie as well but it was awesome.
"I kept telling myself, I need to earn this, I need to prove this to myself, and this is my time."
Scheffler was earlier been left to ponder what might have been after an extraordinary week.
The world No.1 carded a closing 65 to share the early clubhouse lead on 13 under par, but his chances of claiming back-to-back major titles had effectively ended with a third-round 73.
That came the day after the Masters champion had been arrested after trying to drive into Valhalla in heavy traffic caused by an earlier, unrelated crash in which a male pedestrian died after being struck by a shuttle bus.
Reports on Sunday suggested four charges against him will be dropped, with Scheffler's lawyer insisting his client was prepared to go to trial if that is not the case.
"On the course I have always been proud of my toughness out there," Scheffler told CBS.
Min Woo Lee closed with a 67 to finish at the leading Australian in an eight-way share of 26th spot at nine under with 2023 champion Brooks Koepka and reigning British Open champion Brian Harman.
With PA, AAP
Australian Associated Press
