LIV golfer’s final-round charge captured viewers’ imagination and provided so many of the major’s memorable moments

Xander Schauffele won the 106th US PGA Championship but ­Bryson DeChambeau brought the ­thunder. Four days at Valhalla served as a reminder of ­DeChambeau’s star ­quality in a sport which has been ­fractured, possibly beyond repair, by the arrival of the Saudi ­Arabian‑backed LIV tour. Some shrugged when DeChambeau departed the PGA Tour for LIV; in Kentucky, he proved he has lost none of his ability to command attention. DeChambeau fell one stroke short of a playoff after ­Schauffele nervelessly holed out from 6ft on the 72nd green.

“I felt like I had my ‘B’ game pretty much,” DeChambeau said. “My putting was A+, my wedging was A+, short game was A+, driving was like B. I shot 20 under par in a major championship. Proud of myself for the way I handled adversity. Definitely disappointing, but one that gives me a lot of momentum for the rest of the majors. I said this was closing time, but it will be closing time hopefully over the next couple of majors.”

• American makes a birdie at final hole to claim a first major
• Bryson DeChambeau second on -20; Victor Hovland third

It seemed appropriate that this staging of the US PGA Championship played out in the home city of Muhammad Ali. Viktor Hovland swung and missed at Xander Schauffele all afternoon. Bryson DeChambeau, with typical force, did likewise. Schauffele is golf’s nearly man no more. He withstood immense pressure to claim the Wanamaker Trophy.

Bare statistics disguise epic sporting theatre during what quickly became a three-horse sprint. Schauffele, at 21 under par, saw off DeChambeau by one, breaking the record score to par in majors by the same margin. Hovland, such an integral part of the Valhalla story, closed at minus 18.

• Day four updates from Valhalla
• Live leaderboard | And feel free to drop Scott an email

Looking back, it should have been pretty obvious that Scottie Scheffler wasn’t going to win after the surreal incident with the peelers on Friday morning. He got back to Valhalla in time to card a jaw-droppingly dogged 66, but the mental cost must have been immense, and yesterday’s 73 was a bit of a low-energy fiasco that could have been a whole lot worse. He’s not really shifting the needle today; bogey at 1, birdie at 5, and he remains where he started at -7 through seven underwhelming holes. Time to recharge the batteries by spending some time at home with the new arrival … and OK, I’ve not quite thought that through, but you get the general gist. He’ll be back and firing on all cylinders again soon enough. Watch out Pinehurst!

It wasn’t to be for poor old Rory this week (pt XXXVIII in an ongoing series). McIlroy takes a shy at the short par-four 4th from the tee, but ends up on a grassy knoll to the side of the green. He whips out, his ball sailing through the green and over the other side, into more thick stuff, where he finds himself shortsided. But then he stabs delightfully out to three feet, such a fine mixture of power and delicacy, and scrambles his par. He remains at -7, and thoughts will already be turning to Pinehurst next month.

• Californian Schauffele looking for his first major
• Shane Lowry races up leaderboard with a 62

It was only going to take something special to switch discussion around this US PGA Championship away from Scottie Scheffler and his brush with Louisville law enforcement. The world No 1 unravelled on day three here, which was entirely understandable given the strain associated with four charges, including one for assaulting a police officer.

Shane Lowry took it upon himself to create a fresh and uplifting storyline. The Irishman stood on Valhalla’s 18th green over a putt of 11ft 6in which could have created history. If he found the bottom of the cup with his birdie attempt, he would have posted the first 61 in major history.

• Day three updates with Xander Schauffele in overnight lead
• Scheffler shakes off ‘shock and fear’ of arrest to stay in hunt
• Live scoreboard | And feel free to drop Scott an email

“This could be the lowest scoring day in major-championship history,” opines Sky commentator Paul McGinley. No wind, soft greens, warm sunshine, all that. This being the case, you don’t want to be going backwards too much at any given point. So it’s a big putt for Bob MacIntyre on 3. Having dropped a shot at 2, he’s facing another bogey at 3. Unless he makes a 15-footer, he’ll effectively be making his fourth in his last five holes of play. But in it goes, and Scotland’s only representative here remains at -6.

Shane Lowry is this close to holding out from a greenside bunker at 6. That’s an end to his run of birdies, though. Tom Hoge drains a monster from downtown on 17, his fourth birdie of the day, and he’s -6. And there are opening birdies for Bryson DeChambeau and Austin Eckroat. A lot of players throwing darts, with the course there for the taking.