Xander Schauffele rallies to win Tournament of Champions

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Xander Schauffele hammered a shot on the 11th hole during the final round of the Tournament of Champions at Kapalua Plantation Course on Maui. Schauffele shot a course-record-tying 62 to win the event.

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Above, Schauffele showed off the trophy after his one-stroke victory over Gary Woodland.

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Gary Woodland reacted after missing his birdie putt on the 18th that would have forced a playoff.

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In a postcard setting, Bryson DeChambeau hit his shot from the first tee during Sunday’s final round of the Tournament of Champions event at Kapalua Plantation Course on Maui.

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KAPALUA, Maui >> Xander Schauffele drew a square on his scorecard at the first and nothing but circles the rest of the way Sunday to win the Sentry Tournament of Champions in dramatic fashion.

Playing one pairing in front of 54-hole leader Gary Woodland, he carded two eagles and eight birdies to equal the course record with a 62 to win the biggest tournament of his young life by one with a four-day total of 23-under 269. Woodland had a chance to force a playoff, but missed the one putt he had to make for birdie from 12 feet to seal his fate.

It was the seventh time in eight tries that Woodland failed to cash in when leading after three rounds. But on this day, he didn’t lose it. He just got beat. He closed with a 5-under 68 as he watched in disbelief as Schauffele chipped in for eagle from 54 feet at the par-5 ninth and then outdid himself by holing out with a wedge from 107 yards for eagle at the par-4 12th.

Schauffele stood over a 12-footer for eagle at the par-5 18th, but just missed it on the left side, settling for a tap-in birdie as Woodland watched from the middle of the 18th fairway. He would later say in a near-silent media room that he hit his drive too far at the last, leaving him an awkward distance for his second shot. If he tried a 2-iron he’d have to aim at the junk on the left side of the green and cut it back to the right.

He opted for a 4-iron instead, and came out of it just enough to leave him short of the green. His approach checked up to 12 feet for birdie, leaving Woodland a good chance to force the playoff. During his round, he knocked in a 6-footer for par at No. 6, a 5-footer for par at No. 8, a 30-footer for birdie at No. 11, a 14-footer for par at the 12th and an 11-footer for birdie at No. 17 to keep cozy with Schauffele.

But the 12-footer at the last was a putt too far.

“I saw what Xander was doing in front of me, so I was trying to stay aggressive knowing what he was doing,” Woodland said. “Tough making par on the last. This one will hurt tonight, but excited about where my game is. I still had a chance to get it up-and-down (at the last). I just didn’t get it done.”

That was not a problem for Schauffele, who has come from behind in all four of his PGA Tour wins. The mellow, low-key golfer doesn’t have a lot of history to draw upon, being all of 25 years old. The San Diego State graduate said some great rounds start with a bogey, but never imagined going 12 under the rest of the way.

“It’s by far the best final round I ever played, I can tell you that much,” Schauffele said. “I was very nervous, strangely (over the eagle putt at 18). We’re here in Hawaii, I figured I would have the aloha vibes and be chill, but my hands were quite shaky and probably had the worst stroke of the day unfortunately. I’m sure it would piss me off even more if someone told me that (it was for the course record outright) and I missed it. So, I’m glad I had no idea.”

It was about the only shot Schauffele didn’t pull out of his bag of sticks. And it wasn’t as if Schauffele and Woodland were playing in a vacuum, either. Early on, Rory McIlroy birdied the fifth to pull within two, but never got any closer as he finished tied for fourth (72—277) with Marc Leishman (71—277) and defending champ Dustin Johnson (67—277). Justin Thomas (65—273) was alone in third at 18 under with the second-best round of the day.

And while it was close for a while in the early part of the back nine, it became clear with about five holes to play that it would be a two-horse race. On this day, that race was won by Schauffele, who is now first in the early stages of the FedEx Cup chase. It was also the biggest come-from-behind win (five strokes) in this event’s long and storied history.

“After you bogey the first, you kind of look around and realize you have nothing to lose,” Schauffele said. “All of my wins have been from behind. This was in sort of dramatic fashion and it turned out to be a birdie fest coming down the stretch. I have no idea what it is, but I think the next step in my career is to learn to be cool under the gun, have a lead and maintaining it.”

And if he finds that answer, he might want to share it with Woodland.