Phil Mickelson shows true colours with message to Open winner Xander Schauffele

Phil Mickelson congratulated Xander Schauffele on social media after Schauffele’s thrilling Open Championship victory. Schauffele shot a flawless six-under 65 in the final round at Royal Troon, securing his second major of the year by narrowly beating Justin Rose and Billy Horschel for the Claret Jug. This achievement places him alongside Jack Nicklaus as the only players to win multiple major championships with final rounds of 65 or lower.

Mickelson praised Schauffele’s performance on X, stating: “What an incredible performance by @XSchauffele. A final round 65 with -4 on the difficult back 9 to win The Open and become CGOTY is simply amazing. Congratulations, what a year, keep it up in Paris too!”

Rose, who finished tied for second with Horschel, also commended Schauffele, writing: “Congrats Xander…. A two-time major champ and deservedly so. I felt I stood tall and gave it a good go today and all week long. I walked off the 18th hole after each round feeling I got something out of the day. Thanks for the support out there. Means a lot!! The dream of the jug is still alive!”

Schauffele, speaking with the Claret Jug by his side, credited Mickelson for his victory. He shared that watching highlights of Mickelson’s 2016 Open clash against Henrik Stenson helped him get into the right mindset. “I feel very honoured. Hearing your name called with ‘Open champion’ afterwards is something I’ve dreamt of for a very long time. I watched the highlights of Phil [Mickelson] and Henrik [Stenson] in 2016 to motivate myself. I guess that paid off pretty nicely!”

He attributed his win to a newfound sense of composure during the final round. “There’s calmness and super stressful moments when you’re trying to win a major championship. I felt them in the past – the ones I didn’t win – and I let them get to me. Today, I felt like I did a pretty good job of weathering the storm when I needed to.”

Schauffele acknowledged the difficulty of the competition, particularly the back nine, and expressed how winning his first major helped him remain calm. “It was hard. It was present very difficult. I think winning the first one helped me a lot today on the back nine. I had some feeling of calmness come through. It was very helpful on what has been one of the hardest back nines I’ve ever played in a tournament. I mean, it’s a dream come true to win two majors in one year. It took me forever just to win one, and to have two now is something else.”