Honestly, if you missed the Sunday finish at Valhalla, you missed one of the most absurd displays of professional golf in recent memory. We’ve spent years hearing that Xander Schauffele couldn't close the door. He was the "nearly man," the guy who would hang around the top five but never actually hoist the trophy. Well, he didn't just walk through the door this time—he basically kicked it off the hinges.
The PGA Championship 2024 results are now etched in history not just because Xander finally got his major, but because the scoring was so low it almost felt like a video game. Schauffele finished at 21-under par. Read that again. Twenty-one under. That is the lowest score in relation to par in the history of men's major championship golf.
The Sunday Duel Nobody Expected
Going into the final round, everyone was looking at Collin Morikawa. He was tied with Xander at 15-under. But while Morikawa kind of stalled out with a 71, the rest of the leaderboard turned into a track meet. Bryson DeChambeau was out there playing like a man possessed. He shot a 64 on Sunday, punctuated by a birdie on the 72nd hole that sent the Kentucky crowd into an absolute frenzy.
Bryson’s celebration was vintage Bryson—big, loud, and full of energy. For a moment, it looked like we were headed for a playoff. He was in the clubhouse at 20-under, and Xander was standing on the 18th tee knowing he needed a birdie to win it outright.
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The 18th at Valhalla is a par-5, but nothing is ever easy when a major is on the line. Xander’s drive ended up in a weird spot, just on the edge of a fairway bunker. He had to stand in the sand with the ball well above his feet. It was a "make or break" shot. He caught it clean, advanced it up the fairway, and then pitched it to about six feet.
That putt. Man, it was shaky. It caught the left edge, circled the cup, and finally dropped. The relief on his face was palpable. He shot a final-round 65 to beat Bryson by a single stroke.
Breaking Down the Leaderboard
If you look at the final numbers, it’s wild how many guys were under par. Usually, the PGA Championship is a grind where even-par is a respectable score. Not this year. Valhalla was soft, and these guys were aggressive.
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- Xander Schauffele: -21 (Winner)
- Bryson DeChambeau: -20
- Viktor Hovland: -18
- Thomas Detry: -15
- Collin Morikawa: -15
Viktor Hovland actually had a real shot at this too. He was right there until a messy bogey on the last hole pushed him back to third. He shot 66, 66, 66 over the final three rounds, which usually wins you a tournament by five shots. This week? It just got him a bronze medal.
Then there’s the Scottie Scheffler saga. You can't talk about the PGA Championship 2024 results without mentioning the most bizarre Friday morning in sports history. The World No. 1 was arrested outside the gates of Valhalla after a traffic misunderstanding. He literally went from a jail cell to the tee box and still managed to shoot a 66 that day. He eventually finished T8 at 13-under, which is honestly more impressive than some wins given the circumstances.
Why the Scoring Was So Low
A lot of traditionalists were a bit annoyed by how easy Valhalla looked. Between the rain softening the greens and the lack of punishing wind, the course was basically defenseless. We saw two different 62s this week—Xander on Thursday and Shane Lowry on Saturday. Before this year, a 62 had only happened a handful of times in major history. Now we got two in one week.
The field's combined score was 214-under par. To put that in perspective, the next closest "low" PGA Championship was in 1995 at Riviera, where the field was 40-over. This wasn't just low; it was an outlier.
What This Means for the Rest of the Season
This win changed the narrative for Xander. He’s no longer the guy with the "best player without a major" tag. He followed this up by winning The Open Championship later in the summer, proving that the floodgates truly did open at Valhalla.
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For Bryson, this was the start of his redemption arc with the fans. Even though he didn't win, his interaction with the crowd and his pure excitement for the game started turning him into a massive fan favorite again.
Lessons from Valhalla
If you're looking for takeaways from these results, it's that the gap between the top players is razor-thin. Xander won because he was 13th in putting and 2nd in approach. You can't have a "weak" part of your game and expect to win when the winning score is -21.
- Aggression wins: On soft courses, you can't play for par. You have to hunt pins.
- Mental toughness: Xander's bogey on the 10th could have sunk him, but he birdied 11 and 12 immediately after.
- Short game is king: Bryson almost won strictly because his scrambling and putting were elite all week.
The 2024 PGA Championship will be remembered as the week golf became a sprint. If you want to dive deeper into the specific stats or the equipment these guys were using to tear up Valhalla, you should check out the official PGA Tour ShotLink data. It shows exactly how Schauffele gained over five strokes on the field just with his driving.
Moving forward, keep an eye on how courses are set up for future PGAs. The organizers probably aren't thrilled about their record book being rewritten so easily, so expect some thicker rough and faster greens when the tournament heads to Quail Hollow in 2025.