Rory Curb Stomps Xander, Why His Wells Fargo Win Deserves As Asterisk, And Anthony Kim's Ridiculous Tweets

Things escalated quickly for Xander Schauffele, and not in a good way, during Sunday's final round at the Wells Fargo Championship. While his struggles down the stretch were just as noteworthy as Rory McIlroy's dominance around Quail Hollow, we didn't learn anything we didn't already know.

Also, McIlroy's win deserves an asterisk next to it because of one man's absence from the field.

LIV Golf wasn't in action this week, but Anthony Kim's Twitter fingers absolutely were and his shtick about being the most-grateful person to maybe ever walk the Earth has officially worn off after firing off an unhinged post about Brandel Chamblee.

We'll tackle these topics in this week's edition of Par Talk before turning the page to Valhalla for the PGA Championship.

Rory Shines, Xander Fades, And Water Is Still Wet

Xander Schauffele may have started Sunday's final round with a one-shot lead over Rory McIlroy, but everything pointed to McIlroy making quick work of Schauffele sooner rather than later over the final 18 holes.

It was a legitimate match-play situation between the pair given the three-shot cushion between second and third place to start the day. It was a match-play scenario involving a proven winner who has found incredible success at Quail Hollow over the years against a guy who has shown time and time again that he doesn't possess that killer instinct, and it quickly turned into the chalk finish everyone had predicted.

Schauffele held his ground for seven holes on Sunday, but fizzled away as the two made the turn.

The momentum swung in Schauffele's favor as he made an eagle on the Par 5 seventh hole, giving him a two-shot lead while walking to the eighth tee box, and it was the short Par 4 eighth where the script officially flipped.

McIlroy was able to make birdie from a very awkward spot in the pinestraw while Schauffele couldn't match him despite driving it greenside just 54-feet from the pin.

With another birdie on the ninth and an eagle on the Par 5 10th, McIlroy went from trailing Schauffele by two shots an hour before to leading the golf tournament by a shot. McIlroy kept his foot on the gas with birdies on 13 and 14 before hooping one from the bunker on 15 for his second eagle of the day. 

In an eight-hole stretch, McIlroy went from trailing Schauffele by two shots to leading him by six and eventually winning the tournament by five shots, and that was with a double bogey on the final hole.

McIlroy cruising to victory and Schauffele just sort of being there was exactly the outcome anyone paying attention over the years would have predicted.

Schauffele shot even par on a Sunday in fading fashion while McIlroy fired a final round 65 to earn the fourth win of his career at Quail Hollow. 

We've seen similar versions of that movie on that exact golf course involving McIlroy spanning over a decade now, and Schauffele showing yet again that he doesn't have that next gear to get the job done certainly isn't anything new.

Schauffele has won three times since April 2022, but one of those wins came alongside Patrick Cantlay in the Zurich Classic team event. If you toss that aside, which most would, we're talking about a player who has won two times on the PGA Tour since January 2019.

An Asterisk-Worthy Win For McIlroy Most Will Forget About

Rory McIlroy just won a signature event on the PGA Tour by five shots, but it doesn't change anything, at all. It may be unfair, but that doesn't mean it isn't true.

The reality is that McIlroy has not won a major championship in 10 years. When we're talking about a generational talent, and face of the sport who hasn't won one of the big four in a decade, that's the only storyline that matters until they find the winner's circle on the biggest stage again.

McIlroy could go on to win five more times on the PGA Tour this season, and while we'd all rightfully recognize it as impressive if he doesn't win a major championship, it would only emphasize the notion that ‘he can’t get it done in majors' narrative.

In a weird way, McIlroy showing this sort of dominance in a regular Tour event on a golf course he's won at four different times is actually frustrating. Then you add the fact that Scottie Scheffler wasn't in the field, and you can easily make the argument that this victory deserves an asterisk next to it. An actual asterisk, too, not the Talor Gooch kind.

Scheffler has been far and away the best player on the planet, and any PGA Tour win, especially a signature event, without the No. 1 player in the world involved lacks juice.

McIlroy's win was impressive, for sure, but it won't be one we'll look back on in 10 years and slot towards the top of his resume.

Anthony Kim Should Put The Phone Down

Anthony Kim hasn't done anything inside the ropes since joining LIV Golf earlier this year, but he's certainly made headlines away from the course.

Kim's entire brand since resurfacing has been about how grateful he is. Grateful to be alive, back in golf, and incredibly grateful for his wife and young daughter. He seems legitimately happy and at peace, which is all anyone could ask for, but he let some words fly over the weekend that caught some attention, and not necessarily in a good way.

Last week, Brandel Chamblee changed his opinion regarding LIV Golf, the Saudi PIF, and how the PGA Tour now needs to find a way to work with them after being the Saudi-backed circuit's most staunch critic for years.

Kim wanted to let Chamblee know his true feelings, and called him a "pu--y" on X, formerly Twitter, for the entire world to see.

The timing of the post was wild, given that 24 hours earlier, Kim posted a video of his daughter asking folks for parenting tips. He went from ‘hey, look at me, I’m being a great parent' to calling a Golf Channel analyst a pu--y.

Chamblee noticed, and stuffed Kim in a locker.

The next day Kim shared a post writing that "my focus is on my family and sobriety" while calling Chamblee out again. Hours later he went back into dad mode on social media talking about how he loves getting donuts with his daughter.

Even the biggest Brandel Chamblee haters in the world have to recognize how immature Kim looks in all of this.