Xander Earns All Respect, Lowry Loses It, Rory Needs A Vacation And Six More Parting Thoughts From The Open

Hey, here's a question, can time slow down? They aren't lying when they say time only speeds up as you get older, and low and behold, the 2024 major championship season is over, and it undoubtedly passed us by faster than it did in 2023. I'm not looking forward to writing something very similar in one year's time after 2025 is in the rearview mirror in the blink of an eye.

We now have to wait 262 days until the start of the 2025 Masters, but who's counting?

Now, onto the golf, and damn did Royal Troon deliver. While I'm not going to sit here and write about how phenomenal a golf course Troon is, because it's well down the list when it comes to The Open rota, the weather cooperated by delivering wind and rain which is all anyone can ask for when it comes to golf across the pond.

There is plenty to discuss from the 152nd Open Championship, so let's dive right in.

Xander Schauffele Is Now A Certified Major Killer

The running joke all weekend was that Schauffele was in the mix to win his first major championship at Royal Troon despite picking off the PGA Championship earlier this year. While you'd be foolish not to admit that Valhalla Golf Club and its lack of any danger whatsoever was the quintessential setup for Schauffele to finally earn major win No. 1 - there was also that not so small incident involving Scottie Scheffler and a jail cell - joking about Schauffele's inability to close or his overall resume at all is disingenuous after the clinic he put on to win The Open.

Schauffele hit 16 of 18 greens in regulation on Sunday and holed just 71 feet worth of putts during the final round. While 71 feet doesn't jump off the page, it does during a 6-under round of 65 as it shows just how diabolically accurate and steady he was throughout the day in 20+ mph wind while trying to earn his second major title of the year.

This time last year Schauffele was known as a non-closer. Yes, he'd find himself on the first page of the leaderboard week after week, including in major championships, but fold when the moment got too big. He's now gotten over that mental hurdle and has two major championship trophies on his mantle.

Only Tiger Woods (twice) and Jordan Spieth had managed to finish Top 8 in all four majors and pick up two wins along the way since 1980, and Schauffele joined that exclusive club with his win at Royal Troon.

For whatever reason, maybe it's just how the leaderboard shaked out or how easy it is to romanticize things at The Open, it felt like Schauffele flew under the radar until Sunday afternoon. We'll probably continue to discount him at majors simply because most of us did so for so long, but do not get it twisted, Schauffele is a stone-cold killer, and Champion Golfer of the Year.

So Who Is The Player Of The Year?

The Player of the Year race wasn't a race at all 48 hours ago with Scheffler being in a league of his own, but Schauffele becoming the only player to win multiple majors this season changes things…right?

Schauffele's season thus far:

PGA Championship win, Open Championship win, 12 Top 10s, two runner-up finishes including The Players, average finish in majors 4.25, and zero missed cuts.

Scheffler's season thus far: 

Masters win, Players win, four more PGA Tour wins, 14 Top 10s, two runner-up finishes, average finish in majors 14.25, and zero missed cuts.

While I understand the crowd of folks who will give Schauffele the nod for Player of the Year given that two majors are more than one, that would mean we'd have to discount Scheffler's season, which would be nothing short of insane.

Scottie Scheffler should still get the nod for PGA Tour Player of the Year. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)

A green jacket, a Players, six total wins including a run of four out of five, and the strongest statistical season we've seen since prime Tiger Woods is good enough to overcome Schauffele's impressive resume.

Shane Lowry Lost Respect

Lowry has long been one of the most likable people in all of golf, but he lost that title after his actions at Royal Troon.

During Friday's second round, Lowry yelled at a fan on the Par 4 11th hole for putting their camera up. The tantrum of course happened after he hit his worst shot of the week.

Saturday brought more ridiculousness out of Lowry after he quite literally hit someone and then told them that they shouldn't have been standing where they were. He came off the golf course red-hot that afternoon after battling the elements and complained about the setup of the golf course.

"Have to question why there wasn't a couple of tees put forward today... I think 15 and 17, like 15 is 500 yards playing into that wind. They keep trying to make holes longer, yet the best hole on this course is 100 yards," Lowry said.

Every player with a later tee time like Lowry had to play the exact same golf course in the exact same conditions, yet Lowry was the only one to question the setup of the course. 

If Lowry were American and not an Irishman equipped with a beer belly he would have been crucified by the media all weekend. Instead, we're expected to just look past his bitching and moaning and give him the benefit of the doubt because he's supposedly a ‘nice guy.'

American supporters and Bethpage Black during the 2025 Ryder Cup next Fall will surely remember Lowry's actions.

Rory McIlroy Needs A Vacation And Doesn't Care Who Knows

Rory McIlroy made a triple bogey on the Par 5 4th hole in the early stages of his second round on Friday and immediately checked out, literally.

"Yeah, I think once I made the 8 on the 4th hole, that was it. 22 holes into the event and I'm thinking about where I'm going to go on vacation next week. Yeah, that was basically it. I mean, I knew from then I'd sort of resigned myself to the fact that I wasn't going to shoot, whatever it is, 4- or 5-under from there on in to make the cut," McIlroy admitted during his post-round presser.

"Yeah, it was a pretty meaningful 14 holes after that, but at least I played okay and at least feel like, as I said, when the wind dropped, my game felt a little more comfortable for me, and I hit some good shots."

You can respect the honesty from McIlroy, but it is still eye-popping. It'll be a very interesting next month or so for McIlroy during the FedEx Cup Playoffs.

Billy Horschel In The Mix Was Awesome

The 2024 Open was Billy Horschel's 43rd start in a major championship. In his previous 42 starts, he managed just two Top 10 finishes, with one of the two coming earlier this year at the PGA Championship where he finished T-8. That's a pretty remarkable stat for a former World No. 11 and previous FedEx Cup champion.

To see the former Florida Gator find his major championship stride at 37 years old is an awesome scene, especially when his game left him about a year ago at the Memorial where he posted an 84.

Nobody had the scenarios of Billy Horschel becoming a fan favorite and Shane Lowry losing fans during an Open on their bingo cards, but here we are.

Thriston Lawrence Encapsulates Why The Open Is Fantastic

Other than golf fans in his homeland of South Africa, Thriston Lawrence's name wasn't on many people's radars heading into the week at Royal Troon. While he does have four European Tour wins under his belt and came out on top at the BMW International Open in June, he isn't exactly a player your eyes immediately gravitate towards when looking down the board.

That's what makes his run, and solo fourth-place finish so great. He told the weather to be damned, and did one hell of a job of blocking out the insanely large moment of trying to win his first major as an underdog that nobody was expecting to be there.

While most expected him to fade on Sunday, he went out and fired a round of three-under and earned a spot in next year's Open in the process. We see moments like this in other majors as well, but it certainly feels like it happens far more often across the pond.

Hey, Jon Rahm Has A Pulse

Was Jon Rahm's T-7 finish a Top 10 of the backdoor variety? You bet, but there's nothing wrong with that given just how poor his year had been up to that point.

Jon Rahm reminded the golf world that he's still a threat at The Open. Jeff Faughender/Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK

While hoisting the Claret Jug was the ultimate goal for the Spaniard, he has to feel a bit of relief going out and reminding both himself and the world that he has every tool in his bag to still compete at the game's highest level. A win on LIV before the end of their season would go a long way before the world circles his name again at the Masters next April.

Xander Schauffele's Dad Crying Is What It's All About

Xander Schauffele's dad, Stefan, has been the now two-time major winner's right-hand man throughout his entire career, but wasn't at Valhalla to see his son win the PGA Championship earlier this year. 

Thankfully, he was on-site at Royal Troon to watch his son put together one of the great final rounds in recent major championship history, and when his son approached him after walking off the 72nd green, the emotions poured out.

A dad celebrating their child's accomplishments, fully succumbing to a life-changing moment no matter how big that moment may be, will never not be awesome.

Sorry, But The Open Isn't The Best Major Championship In Golf

We get so caught up in the moment and fall victim to recency bias after The Open each year wanting to crown it as the best major in golf, but it just isn't the case.

Sorry to disappoint, but the Masters is the greatest tournament in golf. Call me a dumb American or anything else you can come up with, but it's just a fact.

The Open is phenomenal, do not get me wrong, but the weather is too big of a character, which makes the draw of tee times too big of a deal.

It's awesome to see the best players in the world battle the elements, but one time a year is plenty.

My major championship rankings right now, which I reserve the right to change whenever I want to:

1. The Masters

*large gap*

2. U.S. Open

3. The Open

4. PGA Championship

Feel free to yell at me via email at mark.harris@outkick.com or hit me on Twitter @itismarkharris.