Blake Davis
LOUISVILLE – Narratives change because people never stay the same. That was evident on Sunday at Valhalla Golf Club when Xander Schauffele won the 106th game of the PGA Championship, while Bryson DeChambeau, who finished second by one stroke, simultaneously won over an entire city with his antics and his play.
It was around this time last week that Schauffele was licking the wounds that Rory McIlroy inflicted on him when the latter left and ran away with the Wells Fargo Championship. But it was Schauffele who had the last laugh – at least for now – as he overtook McIlroy in the official world golf rankings, moving into second place overall following his victory in Valhalla.
It was not a victory that many predicted.
Even when Schauffele led after 18, 36 and 54 holes, old stories persisted that he was allergic to major championship leads and cowered in front of the lights when they were brightest. How could they not?
Schauffele placed first or second in the final round of a major championship or The Players Championship three times in his career; he missed all three opportunities. Worse still, he had entered the third rounds three times in the top three of the leaderboard; he missed all three of these opportunities as well.
“I don’t think I would ever consider it a foul,” Scheffler said of past bruises. “I looked at it as someone who is trying really hard and needs more experience. All those difficult situations for me, even last week, that kind of feeling, it gets to you at some point.
“It makes it even sweeter. I know it’s important, but just winning in general is as sweet as it can be for me.”
Schauffele’s colleagues and those in his circle insisted he had what it takes to win the biggest events; Still, evidence to the contrary began to accumulate. Such criticism is a privilege, of course. It’s not like Tom Hoge, Alex Noren or Thomas Detry were criticized when they failed. Only players who are considered excellent; those we believe are good enough to be champions.
This is how narratives work.
Others went through similar struggles early in their careers. Phil Mickelson comes to mind. Although Lefty won six major championships, he entered his age-34 season on the PGA Tour with a cacophony of hot scenes that he just couldn’t win the biggest events. In retrospect, this makes the murmurs surrounding Schauffele, who is just 30, seem more like whispers.
Schauffele’s question at these big events was often, “How is he going to lose this one?” After an impressive 31 on the front nine on Sunday, it looked like we got our answer when he made bogey on the second-easiest hole on the course, the 590-yard par-5 10th, after a series of poor and possibly even worse decisions. shots.
But narratives change because people change.
Schauffele birdied the next two holes to regain control of the tournament. Five pars later, he stood on the 72nd hole knowing that, two pars ahead of him, DeChambeau had delivered the best moment of the tournament up to that point. Tying Schauffele at 20 under with a birdie on his 72nd hole, DeChambeau responded with what looked like a cartwheel that turned into a hard punch.
Changing a narrative is also a great way to describe DeChambeau’s week. The irony of him leaving the PGA Tour to earn millions from Saudi Arabia only to become as beloved as he ever was to golf fans is as fun as it is confusing.
Yet here we are.
It’s impossible to overstate how pro-Bryson the Louisville crowd was this week. On Sunday, they invaded every crevice of the property and shouted encouragement after each of their shots. Resounding cries of, “Try to shoot 50 today, Bryson!” and “the biggest YouTuber in the world!” replaced what used to be mockery when he started.
(I didn’t hear, as Bryson stated at the Masters earlier this year, anyone shouting that they were grateful for what he does online. But the screams weren’t far away.)
DeChambeau put on a show for the Valhalla audience because he is, at heart, a showman. His narrative changed because he changed. He now understands that he has two gifts: he is incredible at golf and he is a world-class artist.
DeChambeau now has an outlet for both — the former in major championships and the latter on his YouTube channel, where he often tries to do crazy things like hitting ball speeds of 215 miles per hour or breaking 50 from forward tees.
“It’s really funny; YouTube helped me understand that a little more,” DeChambeau explained of his altered mindset of embracing big moments and delivering joy to fans. “When the moment comes, knowing what to do, what to say, how to act is very important. You know, when I was younger, I didn’t understand what it was. I didn’t know what that meant and why I was necessarily doing it. Now, I’m doing a lot more for the fans and the people around me and trying to be an artist who plays good golf once in a while. soon.”
That’s how careers work. They ebb and flow. You learn how to play majors and how to celebrate them too.
Schauffele’s tee shot on No. 18 did not yield a good result. With his feet in a bunker to his left, he was dangling from where the ball could have flown in several different directions. Instead, he hit a big rope that ended up in a perfect up-and-down spot for birdie, the all-time scoring record and the PGA Championship.
He entered in impressive silence, given the size of the crowd on Sunday, and hit a low, spinning chip just short of the hole. It was a dagger in the championship itself.
This is how narratives die.
“That’s definitely a chip on my shoulder,” Schauffele said of the narrative surrounding his play. “At the end of the day, that’s what happens. You guys are asking questions, investigating, and I have to sit here and respond. It’s a lot easier to respond with this thing sitting next to me now, obviously. It’s just fuel, fuel for the my fire. I always grew and it was certainly leading to that.
One day we may look back on Schauffele’s career and laugh at someone who believes he was incapable of closing out a major tournament. He might win three, four or five of them. He’s that good.
But there will only be one victory that will end the narrative. Schauffele did it with a 65 when the player in front of him – potentially breaking his own narrative – shot 64, making it all the more satisfying and legitimate.
“It’s just noise,” concluded Schauffele. “That’s what I think. I thought I was [good enough to win a major]. Not that people saying that would make me think that. I just felt like I’ve done enough work, I’m good enough to do it. I just needed to shut my mind and actually do it.”
All big winners are champions. This is how specialties work. Not all of them flip the narratives like Schauffele did on Sunday in Valhalla. In 18 holes of golf, he went from “the best who can’t beat the big one” to “actually maybe he’ll win a lot of them.”
This important result drastically changed the trajectory of Schauffele’s career.
His narrative changed because he did something he never did before. He shut down the best in the world when it mattered most.
It’s hard to imagine the erasure of a narrative more definitively than that.
