Xander Schauffele holds off Justin Rose to win The Open as American lands his second major this year after stunning 65 at Royal Troon

Justin Rose stood tall between the thorns of Troon but he could not end an awfully long wait for Englishmen at The Open. If he requires any consolation, it is that he was beaten by a man moving faster than any train that passes through these links.

Xander Schauffele was immense, a force of nature and a golfer who conquered this most challenging of environments in a fabulous manner.

With 65 blows across his final round, not a bogey among them and a back nine for the ages, he had worked his way to nine under par and by the time he paused for breath in the shadow of the giant yellow leaderboard on the 18th hole there was no one within two of his mark. The rest were all lost in his dust.

The first man to step out of that cloud was Rose, his playing partner, who, alongside Billy Horschel, had tied for second on seven under. The bear hug Rose gave the victor on the green was in recognition of a Claret Jug well won by one man and not frittered away by anyone else.

That Schauffele has now claimed two of the past three majors is one note of distinction; another is the fact he enabled the United States to complete a clean sweep of his sport’s big four for the first time since 1982.

Xander Schauffele (pictured) has won the Open Championship after shooting a sensational final score of 65

 Schauffele wrapped up his weekend shooting 69, 72, 69, 65, to finish -9, two shots clear of Justin Rose and Billy Horschel at -7

The 30-year-old hit six birdies during his final round at Royal Troon to win the second major of his career

Schauffele would storm through the field, to surpass fellow Olympic champion Justin Rose (pictured) who also enjoyed an excellent tournament

For Rose there was the sting of a near miss. Of putts burning edges and not dropping. Of knowing he led twice outright on the front nine of the final day, but was ultimately powerless to stop an opponent who found all the right answers to hard questions.

‘I am gutted and I am super proud,’ said Rose, aged 43 and 11 years removed from his US Open triumph. He only made it into the field by virtue of 36-hole qualifying at Royal Cinque Ports three weeks ago, so his disappointment ought to be kept in moderation.

If we are to go by the numbers, his closing loop of 67 was the second best of the day, acquired for the loss of just one bogey. It was a sterling effort on a brutal landscape that has been pelted with foul weather all week.

Against different opposition, it might have been enough to end a barren run for Englishmen that dates back to 1982. But Schauffele was a vision of patience that gave way to breathtaking speed, shooting jointly the best round of the tournament, which found all of its juice in an inward nine of 31.

We will dwell on that portion of sporting excellent in a moment, because the back nine is where Sundays at the majors truly heat up. But the preamble, the jostling for position before the sprint, had been compelling in its own way.

Starting the day in far calmer breezes than we had seen in the first rounds, it was Horschel who held the slender lead at four under, ahead of the cluster of six featuring Schauffele and Rose one further back.

The American clinched his second major title having previously won the PGA Championship at Valhalla earlier this season

The 30-year-old (right) hugged his caddie Austin Kaiser (left) after putting out on the 18th hole  

Schauffele (left) embraced his Father, Stefan Schauffele (right) after clinching his second major

World No 272 Dan Brown (left) placed T10 for the week alongside fellow Englishman Matthew Jordan, while Scottie Scheffler (right) finished T7

Thriston Lawrence (pictured), the world No 98 from South Africa, also had a chance to snatch victory on the final day

We had a few good stories among that bunch, none finer than that of the world No 272 Dan Brown, and other tales of the unknown like Thriston Lawrence, the world No 98 from South Africa. What of Scottie Scheffler, the world No 1 who at two under was topping all the statistical charts and bottom for putting? If his blade heated up, he would surely be unstoppable.

Well, his challenge effectively ended with a three-putt from six feet at the eighth. A closing 72 left him tied seventh and pondering the one glaring weakness that has cost him outright dominance of the game.

And Brown? The signs were bad when it took him two shots to escape a greenside bunker at the fourth and the run of three bogeys in succession that it triggered effectively did for him. A marvellous tie for 10th alongside another Englishman Matthew Jordan will secure both men a place in next year’s field and good for them.

With Brown and Scheffler tumbling, the list of contenders was being whittled down. Sam Burns disappeared with the horrors of an 80 and Russell Henley’s 69 was good for five under and fifth but no sustained charge.

Mostly, it was a slow-burning tussle of interchanging positions at the top between Rose, Schauffele, Horschel and Lawrence at the top. A seven-foot birdie putt on the fourth gave Rose a brief lead at five under and another from 14 foot at eighth had him in front at six under. He was patiently taking his chances like a wise old man of the links.

With Horschel falling from six to four under between the eighth and 10 holes, a three-horse race took shape, and Lawrence, amazingly, was going nowhere. Despite being a four-time winner on the DP World Tour, he was unheralded and largely unknown – he had around 5,000 Instagram followers and a curious sideline in social media postings about fishing. By getting to seven under at 4.24pm, he was close to something huge.

A missed par putt from 14 feet brought him back into a tie with Rose and Schauffele but also coincided with the latter going on an almighty back-nine tear. Across the first nine holes, the 30-year-old had steadily acquired two birdies, but then he really put on a show.

Billy Horschel (pictured) would place second alongside Rose, his highest finish at a major championship so far in his career

Rose paid tribute to Schauffele (pictured), claiming he had an exciting road ahead 

Schauffele, who has waited a long time to become a major champion, said he was 'spoiling himself' having now clinched two majors this year

Reflecting on being crowned the Champion Golfer, Schauffele added: 'It means a lot. It really is a dream come true to be holding this'

Despite coming up short, Rose (left) stated that he was 'super proud' of how he performed

What is worth remembering is that this particular stretch of land is always nasty, and especially so with the kind of crosswind that greeted the final round. Indeed, of the holes that played toughest on Sunday, five of the worst seven were on that journey in, and Schauffele would only miss his target with two of his nine tee shots.

With a 171-yard approach to two feet he was able to birdie the brutish Railway hole at 11 and a nailed putt from 16 feet at the 13th gave him the lead outright for the first time. Another 12 footer at 14 gave him daylight on Lawrence and Rose, whose approaches were solid but did not yield enough short putts to keep up.

A missed eight-footer at 13 would count as the only one that really got away from Rose. His grimace suggests he knew it. Before long Schauffele had worked his way to nine under and two Rose birdies in his final three holes was never going to close that gap. Same goes for a late rally from Horschel.

They played well, but you don’t catch runaway trains.