Xander Schauffele wrote his name into the history books with his PGA Championship win.
However, as well as his triumph at Valhalla marking his maiden Major title, his 21-under for the tournament was notable for being the lowest score to win a Major in history. He was far from the only player to make tackling the Kentucky course comparatively easy, though, as one incredible stat proves.
Golf stats guru Justin Ray has crunched the numbers and revealed that the combined score to par of the field was an astonishing 214-under.
Lowest combined score to par by field, PGA Championship history2024 Valhalla, -2141995 Riviera, +402018 Bellerive, +59May 19, 2024
That's 254 lower than even the 1995 PGA Championship at Riviera Country Club. Back then, Steve Elkington beat Colin Montgomerie in a playoff after they both finished at 17 under to beat the previous 72-hole scoring record for the tournament by two, at 267.
For further context, another low-scoring edition came in 2018, but its score to par was vastly different, at 59-over. Back then, Brooks Koepka won the event after finishing on 16-under to set a new 72-hole scoring record for the PGA Championship of 264 – a figure Schauffele bettered by one this year.
The writing was on the wall by the halfway stage of last week's event, when the cut line was set at one-under - six shots lower than the previous year’s tournament at Oak Hill.
Meanwhile, another glaring example of just how free the scoring was came with runner-up Bryson DeChambeau, who can count himself extremely unlucky not to at least force a playoff. Indeed, his 20-under for the tournament would have been enough to win a Major on any other occasion.
Other tell-tale signs of a low-scoring week overall came with the lowest score for an individual round at a Major being matched not once, but twice.
Schauffele set the tone for his overall performance with a 62 in his opening round, only the fourth time the score has been achieved at a Major. Then, two days later, Shane Lowry rocketed into contention for his second Major title with the same score, missing out on the outright record by inches.
The birdie-fest came in sharp contrast to the previous Major, The Masters, where challenging conditions helped ensure that Scottie Scheffler got over the line on just 11-under for the Augusta National tournament to give him a four-shot win.
If anything, in terms of comparisons to recent Majors, the action at Valhalla was more akin to the opening round of last year’s US Open at Los Angeles Country Club. Normally, the tournament can be relied on to make conditions brutal for players, but on the Thursday, Schauffele again made it look easy with another 62, along with the same score from Rickie Fowler.
However, unlike the PGA Championship, on that occasion, things tightened up considerably as the tournament continued before Wyndham Clark eventually finished on 10-under to take the trophy.
The US Open the next Major on the horizon, too. This year, it takes place at Pinehurst No.2, beginning on 13 June. The day after the conclusion of the PGA Championship, a host of big names, including LIV golfers Sergio Garcia and Abraham Ancer, were taking part in final qualifying in Texas.
