Schauffele shakes off Rose to seal America's clean sweep

Craig Stadler, Tom Watson, Tom Watson, Raymond Floyd. Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Bryson DeChambeau, Xander Schauffele. Not since 1982 had American golfers completed a clean sweep of the four majors until Schauffele emulated Watson by prevailing at Royal Troon.

- Ewan Murray

Luke Donald, Europe's captain, must be delighted this is not a Ryder Cup year. Not that the bigger picture is particularly appealing for Donald; the stars and stripes sit adjacent to the names of nine of the past 12 major champions.

At the start of this year, Schauffele was regarded as a nearly man. He was arguably the finest golfer of his generation never to taste success in one of the sport's big four events. In the blink of an eye, he has become a multiple major winner; glory at Valhalla in the US PGA Championship in May surely assisted Schauffele on the Ayrshire coast. As others wilted, he knitted together a 65 to win by two, at nine under par, from Billy Horschel and a resurgent Justin Rose.

Schauffele is so calm and methodical in the way he goes about his business that the brutality attached to this Open exam was never likely to faze him. He is golf's silent assassin. The 152nd Open should be remembered as one that threatened to deliver a far more spectacular storyline than ultimately arrived.

There is always a key stretch. For Schauffele, this arrived between the 11th and 16th on day four. He played that in four under, allowing daylight toappear between him and the field. This, it should be remembered, is the toughest set of holes at Royal Troon.

The prospect of a first Open playoff since 2015 had threatened until Schauffele decided the tournament was his for the taking. His back nine took just 31 strokes.