PGA CHAMPIONSHIP DIARY | The final word(s) on a memorable week at Valhalla

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – Here’s a thing about sports – and it’s true in news, too. You can work all day – and I did, and a lot of people did. You can take all the photos you want. You can gather all the news you want. Lots of times, the only story that really matters is the ending.

It takes 72 holes to win a major championship. On Sunday, it took 17 grueling, sweltering holes for Xander Schauffele to get the chance he had so badly wanted, and a chance he had fumbled in the past. There he stood on the 18th green, with an 11-foot birdie putt to win the PGA Championship.

And he drilled it. Calm and cool, in front of an impressive Louisville gallery at Valhalla, he won his first major. And all the photos I snapped all day, all the sweat, kind of boiled down into what I could get in that moment. Because that’s all anybody much cares about.

People may hear Schauffele’s name and be unimpressed. I get that. It’s not Tiger or Rory or even Scottie Scheffler. But Schauffele has been knocking at the door for a long time. And I like it when guys who have been knocking at the door finally get to go inside. “The process” is a much-celebrated thing these days. But it’s underappreciated.

Schauffele had finished in the Top 20 of the past eight majors. The last player to do that was Tiger Woods, who had 10 straight Top 20 finishes from 2006 to ‘09.

All week, he had used the words, “stay in my lane.” Just do his things. Don’t look left or right. Don’t think about how many times he’d come close. Don’t think about the five-stroke lead he lost the week before at Quail Hollow.

Just keep going. And he finished with some flair. A birdie on the final hole, and the lowest 72-hole score in major championship history.

So I do want to start there. That’s a valuable thing for all of us to remember.

Head down. Stay in our lane. Keep working.

And nothing matters more than the final exam. Yes, you’ve got to pass the tests leading up to it to put yourself in position. But it’s how you perform at the end – in the playoffs, in the NCAA Tournament, in the Super Bowl – that people remember.

I got to shoot from inside the ropes, and got some nice celebration shots of Schauffele and others. A little ways down from me, Alyssa Newton of WHAS got the same celebration shot I got, but I liked hers a little better. In hers. Schaffele had both arms extended, but the club rose up with the sky as a backdrop. In mine, the backdrop was trees.

Then later, David Schuh showed me some photos WDRB’s Ian Cunningham got from just outside the ropes and diagonal to the green from me. My goodness, those were outstanding, with the throng of fans, arms outstretched, as the backdrop to Schauffele. That photo is the one I used at the top of this story.

So, what’s the lesson there? Where you’re sitting can make all the difference. Even a small change of position can completely transform the same reality.

Certainly, I’ve seen that this week in the aftermath of Scottie Scheffler’s arrest in Louisville Friday morning. Without getting into the specifics or even outlining the arguments, people have taken to X (often in replies to things I posted) to vehemently argue about police abuse of power or the importance of following the laws or the need to “back the blue.” All of these things can be reality. Depending on where you’re sitting, you may see one light more strongly than another.

Sometimes, it would to a lot of us good to move around. And not just when you’re trying to take pictures on the No. 18 green.

What else? I lost my glasses. I suspect they’re somewhere along the No. 13 fairway. With the heat and the continued need to reapply sunscreen, I hung them from a button on my shirt because there was no pocket. They silently slipped off sometime between me getting up out of the grass after taking pictures and when I got back to the top of the hill to the No. 10 tee. It was time for a change anyway.

That wasn’t my only loss on the day. At some point on the first green, a setting in my camera got messed up, so that, instead of shooting 20 frames per second when I pushed down on the button, I was shooting just a single frame. Things I thought I was shooting, I wasn’t shooting. I lost a nice chip-in from the sand by Justin Thomas. A couple of nice shots of him teeing off. I lost about 40 minutes of really hot, sweaty work.

Still, you just have to play the next play. I must admit, it’s not the first time I’ve been foiled by user error. It was the first time I’d made that error, though.

As I’ve written before, I was glad to see Thomas get the love he got from the home crowd. It meant something to him. I don’t think he knew how many people are rooting for him.

Sitting down to write this after the last shuttle right out of the course, I can’t help but think of the security guard who died when struck by a shuttle. This week will be remembered for the arrest of the world’s No. 1 player. But depending on where you sit, you will perhaps remember differently.

You’ll remember John Mills, who lost his life on his way to work. You’ll remember golf fans in Louisville, rabid as they are, showing up in droves and staying until the end of another dramatic finish at Valhalla. Maybe you’ll remember Schauffele, and his persistence in winning a major. Maybe you’ll remember Scheffler, and the grace with which he handled a difficult situation, or you’ll remember the police officers.

I suspect I’ll remember all of it. The rain. The heat. It’s been quite a week, Louisville. But I don’t think we’ll do it again for a long while.

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