Schauffele Breaks Through, Korda's Dominance Continues | Sunday Swing

Welcome back to another edition of the Sunday Swing presented by 2nd Swing Golf. This week in the world of professional golf, the men teed it up at Valhalla Golf Club for the PGA Championship, while the women competed at Liberty National for the LPGA Mizuho Classic.

PGA Championship - Tournament History

The PGA Championship, hosted and conducted by the PGA of America, serves as the second major of the golf calendar every year, though that wasn’t always the case. For most of its history 2019, the PGA Championship was played in August every year and served as the final major on the calendar. However, due to a number of changes to tour schedules and the addition of golf as a sport in the Summer Olympic games, the PGA Championship was moved to May.

Also of note, the PGA Championship utilized a match play format throughout an entire week up until 1957. Players would compete in a stroke play qualifier before being broken into a match play bracket. The format was changed to the current 72-hole stroke play setup in 1958.

The 2024 PGA Championship marked the 106th playing of the tournament, and the fourth time the championship was played at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, KY. A Jack Nicklaus design, Valhalla boasts wide fairways and unique green complexes that appear inviting at first, but still require precision to make birdies.

The Big Swing 

As is the case with major championships, the field at Valhalla was top-tier and loaded with the best players in the world. Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy entered the week as the big favorites, each having found the winner’s multiple times in recent weeks. But it was Xander Schauffele who took control of the tournament early and never let go.

Schauffele’s career has been defined by close calls at big events. Prior to the PGA, Schauffele had recorded 12 top-10 finishes in majors without a win. Meanwhile, his 2024 PGA Tour season had produced similar results – eight top-10 finishes in 12 events, but no victories. It was only a matter of time.

Schauffele wasted no time seizing the lead, firing a blistering nine-under-par 62 to hold a comfortable lead after day one. The 62 also set the course record at Valhalla and tied the major championship record.

Warm temperatures, periods of mild rain, and little to no wind created excellent scoring opportunities throughout the whole week, and players took advantage. A plethora of golfers shot 65s and 66s on Thursday, including Tony Finau (65), Sahith Theegala (65), Rory McIlroy (66), and Collin Morikawa (66) among others.

Schauffele maintained his lead through the second round with a two-under-par 68, but the gap tightened. Morikawa added a 65 to slot himself just one shot back, while Theegala added a 67 to put himself in solo third place at two shots back. Bryson DeChambeau entered the mix with a 65, placing himself in a tie for fourth at three shots back with the likes of Scottie Scheffler and others. Finau and Viktor Hovland were among the group at eight-under-par, four shots back.

During the third round, the leaderboard got even more congested, setting up a thrilling final round. Morikawa, Theegala, and DeChambeau all shot 67 to keep themselves firmly in contention entering Sunday. Hovland added a 66 to get himself further in the mix, while Irishman Shane Lowry caught fire and shot a 62 of his own to vault himself into the top five and to match Schauffele’s course record and major record from Thursday.

Schauffele carded another 68 to position himself in a tie at the top with Morikawa with 18 holes to play.

The final round was filled by fireworks primarily lit by three players – Schauffele, DeChambeau, and Hovland. The prime scoring conditions yielded birdie and birdie throughout the day, making for an entertaining watch. It was a true three-horse race entering the final hole, a par-5 that is reachable in two for longer hitters. 

Both DeChambeau and Hovland stood on the teebox of the final hole at 19-under-par, one shot behind Schauffele. Both knew they most likely needed birdie or better to stay alive for the championship. Each player missed the green in two and hit solid pitch shots to set up putts from approximately eight feet to make birdie and set the new clubhouse lead at 20-under-par. 

DeChambeau’s putt carried the perfect amount of speed and just trickled over the edge of the cup into the hole, prompting a vibrant fist pump and roar from the gallery. A couple minutes later, Hovland’s putt had a different result, just burning the low edge of the hole.

Schauffele knew what he had to do – birdie the last hole to win or make par and set up a playoff with DeChambeau. 

The tee shot found the first cut, but his ball came to rest so close to the bunker that it created an awkward stance, with Schauffele’s feet far below the ball and in the bunker. It was no problem for the former Olympic Gold medalist, who choked down on a long iron and struck a swooping draw some 240 yards to just left of the green in the fairway – leaving him an uphill pitch shot from about 30 yards to get up and down. He executed perfectly, knocking in a putt from roughly five feet to finish at 21-under-par and win his first major championship by a shot.

Winner’s Bag - Xander Schauffele

Xander Schauffele’s barrage of birdies at Valhalla Golf Club earned him his first major championship at long last, winning the PGA Championship by one shot over Bryson DeChambeau. Schauffele has been a Callaway staffer for most of his professional career and plays a Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond driver (10.5 degrees) and fairway wood (15 degrees), a Callaway Apex UW (21 degrees), Callaway Apex TCB irons (4-10), Callaway Jaws Raw 52-degree wedge, Titleist Vokey Design 56-degree wedge, Titleist Vokey WedgeWorks 60-degree wedge, and an Odyssey Toulon Las Vegas Prototype putter.

LPGA Tour Action 

No, it’s not deja vu. And no, this isn’t copy/pasted from another week. Nelly Korda has won another LPGA Tour event – this time, it’s the LPGA Mizuho Americas Open held at Liberty National.

Korda opened the tournament by shooting two-over-par on her first nine holes, appearing mortal for the first time in months. But as she has done so many times throughout her last seven starts, Korda rallied. She made three birdies and no bogeys on her second nine to shoot a first-round 70. 

She followed up the 70 and rounds of 68 and 65 to give herself a two shot lead entering the final day over Australian Hannah Green.  

During the final round, Green made it clear she would not back down from the World No. 1. An opening birdie quickly narrowed the gap to just one shot, and then the lead quickly evaporated a few holes later. 

The pair remained tied for almost the entire back nine, making matching birdies on Nos. 13 and 15 to move to 14-under-par entering the final hole of the tournament. 

Green had the honor and pulled her tee shot into the left rough, giving Korda the advantage. Green tried to muscle her approach to the green, but missed, winding up in the rough short of the greenside bunker. Her chip shot from there would wind up about 15 feet from hole. Korda, meanwhile, was on in two. Korda two-putted and Green missed her par save, giving Korda her sixth win in seven starts on the LPGA Tour.