Scottie Scheffler stormed to his fourth major title and first Open Championship with a commanding four-shot victory at Royal Portrush.
The World No1 began the final round with a four-shot lead and never looked likely to surrender it to the chasing pack on Sunday.
A final-round 68 saw the American end the tournament on 17 under par, with fellow countryman Harris English his closest challenger on -14.
Victory sees Scheffler claim his second major triumph of the season after his win at the US PGA Championship in May and now means he just needs to win the US Open to complete the career Grand Slam.
‘[Thanks to the fans for all the support. I know I wasn’t the fan favourite today so I appreciate you guys coming out to support,’ Scheffler said as he collected the Claret Jug.
‘Overall it’s been a great week, the fan support was tremendous. It was a really fun week to be able to play in front of such a great crowd.’
Despite his remarkable dominance in recent years, Scheffler had never truly looked at ease on a links golf course before this week.
However, the 29-year-old has now emphatically answered those questions, delivering a superb all-round performance in varying conditions throughout the week in Northern Ireland.
An opening round of 68 got Scheffler off to a solid start, but he pulled clear on Friday and Saturday, with rounds of 64 and 67 providing him an enviable four-shot lead over China’s Haotong Li heading into Sunday’s action.
Open Championship final leaderboard
-17: Scottie Scheffler
-13: Harris English
-12: Chris Gotterup
-11: Haotong Li, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Wyndham Clark
-10: Xander Schauffele, Rory McIlroy, Robert MacIntyre
-9: Russell Henley, Bryan Harman, Bryson DeChambeau, Corey Conners
And if there was to be any chance of dramatics on Sunday, that possibility was virtually scuppered over the first six holes as Scheffler made three birdies to open up a seven-shot lead.
A rare error from the bunker on eight led to a double-bogey six, but Scheffler responded with birdie on the next hole to go out in 34 shots.
A drama-free back nine, featuring one birdie on the par-5 12th, saw the American cruise to a victory, which now sees him complete the third leg of the Grand Slam.
Rory McIlroy comes up short in front of home fans
Many fans at Portrush would have held onto the slim hope of watching Rory McIlroy summon up a final-day charge in his home country.
But it wasn’t to be for the Northern Irishman in the final round as a topsy-turvy final-round 69 saw him finish in a tie for seventh on -10 after a costly double bogey on the tenth put paid to any hopes of a grandstand finish.
In the end, it was aforementioned English and Chris Gotterup who came closest to challenging Scheffler, with the American duo finishing second and third on -13 and -12 respectively.
Paired alongside Scheffler in the final round, Li produced a commendable final-round 70 to finish T4 on -11 alongside former US Open champions Wyndham Clark and Matt Fitzpatrick.
Last year’s winner, Xander Schauffele, finished alongside McIlroy and Robert MacIntyre on -10, while the round of the day from Bryson DeChambeau saw the two-time major champion recover from an opening-round 78 to finish in a tie for tenth.
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