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Open Championship 2026: Scottie Scheffler gets break of the century on wild 17th hole, comes up just short in claret jug defence

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In 2017, the last time the Open Championship was at Royal Birkdale, the back-nine drama belonged to Jordan Spieth with a now-infamous sequence on the 13th hole that sparked his run to the claret jug. In 2026, the chaos came for Scottie Scheffler instead.

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Arriving at the par-5 17th hole on Sunday, Scheffler needed at least a birdie to stay in contention and match Cameron Young’s clubhouse lead of nine under par. After pulling his tee shot left into a horrible lie with a large mound blocking his view of the green, Scheffler exploded shouting “WHY? WHY? HOW DOES THAT EVEN HAPPEN? The ball is slicing – ONE BOUNCE!”

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Needing to stay aggressive, Scheffler took out a fairway metal and attacked with his second, but it again started left and stayed there, landing behind a hospitality structure in one of the deepest patches of fescue on the course. Expecting the ball wouldn’t be found, Scheffler hit a provisional, but as it turned out, he wouldn’t need it.

Moments later, Scheffler caught arguably the biggest break of the week, when his original ball – which looked long lost – was found. Because of the hospitality structure blocking his original ball’s line to the green, Scheffler was granted Temporary Immovable Obstruction (TIO) relief, allowing him a free line-of-sight drop. Scheffler made the most of his ninth life, sticking his approach eight feet from the pin and draining his putt for birdie.

The wild sequence, which saw Scheffler’s Open chances die and come back to life in the span of about 10 minutes, gave the World No.1 a final chance to equal Cameron Young’s nine-under mark with a birdie at the 18th. After ending up just short of the right greenside bunker in two, 12 yards from the hole, Scheffler pulled out a putter to try to make birdie but blew the putt 10 feet by. A miss of the par save officially ending his claret jug defence, posting a final-round 67 and a seven-under 273 total.

Given Scheffler’s struggles with his putter throughout the week, it was a fitting finish for the four-time major winner, but after his rollercoaster 17th hole, no one can say he went quietly.