Nuevo campeón del PGA Championship (SPA-ENG)

New PGA Championship champion

In the previous days I was talking about this important tournament, the second member of the Grand Slam of golf that brings together the best players on the planet, who enter by ranking, by exceptions obtained in previous tournaments, or by invitation from the authorities.

And the winner was a major tournament. The prize he won was a check for $3,330,000 and the famous Wanamaker trophy.

Xander had played extraordinarily on Thursday, the first of four days that make up a tournament organized by the PGA, needing only 62 strokes to complete the par 71 course of the Valhalla Golf Club playing field located in Louisville, state of Kentucky, The USA, with that record, tied the record for the fewest number of strokes for a round in the entire history of Grand Slam tournaments.

Schauffele had not won since 2022, although he had fought in the top positions, including in major tournaments where he led on several occasions to finally be defeated. These vicissitudes caused it to circulate in the golf environment that the California player did not know how to close the tournaments and that his character succumbed to extreme situations.

Yesterday he threw all those speculations to the ground with great determination and courage, several distinguished rivals fought until the end to snatch the title from him.

Among his pursuers were the North Americans Bryson Dechambeau and Collin Morikawa, both former winners of major tournaments, and other great players such as the Norwegian Viktor Hovland, whose game was growing. Former British Open champion Shane Lowry, who on Saturday had equaled the mark of 62 strokes and was on the verge of breaking it as he missed a short putt on the 18th hole to establish a mark never equaled in this type, also threatened to catch in the definition. of 61 stroke events, but it seems that that day he exhausted his entire repertoire and was unable to develop it again on Sunday, he finished in 6th. place.

Xander Schauffele needed a birdie on the last hole to secure the victory as Dechambeau had tied him at -20 strokes when finishing his participation a few minutes earlier. He played in great form and with an excellent attitude the entire day, his final -6 for the day clearly shows that he went out to try to win the tournament and not wait for his rivals to make mistakes, a strategy that perhaps harmed him in the past.

With -21 strokes he became the winner of the PGA Championship and put an end to all speculation about his character and mental strength when it came to defining a tournament. On the other hand, he set a new record, -21 is the lowest score recorded in the history of Grand Slam tournaments, no small feat.

The USA Open, the third major tournament of the year, will be played in mid-June in Pinehurst, North Carolina, and will be an unmissable event since this tournament has the reputation of presenting the most difficult courses on the entire circuit and has repeatedly been won with scores above the Par of the court, the most remembered by me was the triumph of my compatriot Ángel Cabrera in 2007 when he won with +5 on the difficult Oakmont track in Pennsylvania.

And speaking of Latin players, the Chilean Joaquín Niemann was the best placed finishing in 39th place while the Argentine Alejandro Tosti finished in 63rd place, the other participant and compatriot Emiliano Grillo did not pass the qualifying cut as did the Colombian Camilo Villegas. Let's hope for better luck for them in the next appointment.