Scheffler in a league of his own as he adds the Claret Jug to his trophy cabinet

Mark McGowan at Royal Portrush

For 30 minutes, he looked human. A 15-footer saved par on seven – the second easiest hole on the course – and he followed up by making double on the eighth after inexplicably catching the lip on the fairway bunker and then having to lay up well short.

What looked as though it was going to be the most simple of victory processions was suddenly turned on its head and the seven-shot lead he’d held two holes earlier was down to four.

But among the statistical categories in which Scheffler leads is ‘Bounce Back’ – following a dropped shot with birdie or better – and he did exactly that by crushing a drive down the ninth and clipping a wedge to four feet. In fact, in the 10 holes that followed the double bogey, he birdied two, hit every fairway bar one, hit every green, and had four birdie putts from inside 10 feet and nothing longer than 40′.

It was an exhibition of controlled play from a person that knew that the only danger left in the tournament was himself.

And before that minor blip on the front nine, he’d sent a clear message to the other hopefuls that second place was the best they could aim for by birdieing three of the opening five, including giving himself a tap-in for the perfect start on the first.

The only way it was ever likely to be in doubt was if somebody got off to a fast start, and as it was, none of the contenders got off to a faster start than Scheffler.

At this stage, we’re running out of superlatives and adjectives to describe the world number one, but after his round on Friday, Rory McIlroy described him as inevitable, and inevitably, in an Open Championship where the wind and adverse weather played the smallest of supporting roles, the cream rose to the top.

It wasn’t flashy, but it seldom is with Scottie, and perhaps the highest compliment that can be paid to him is that he took on 155 of the best players in the game and made victory look routine. Had he needed to pick up a shot or two over the closing five or six holes, you got the impression that he’d have done so.

In the end, the margin of victory was four over Harris English, who took solo second at -13, and five over Chris Gotterup who completed a dream fortnight by following his Genesis Scottish Open win with a solo third.

With two Masters titles, the PGA Championship, and now an Open Championship to his name, Scheffler is now just a U.S. Open win from joining Bobby Jones, Sam Snead, Gene Sarazen, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy in the Career Grand Slam-winners’ club.

Earlier in the week, he’d made headlines for admitting to possessing a streak of nihilism, lamenting the fleeting nature of the joy that tournament victories bring, but he admitted to being pretty thrilled to land the Claret Jug.

“Yes, it’s a very special feeling,” he told the press afterwards. “It takes a lot of work to get to this point in my career.

“This was a tough week. It was challenging. The golf course was playing really tough, and I had to focus very hard over the course of the weekend.

“Really the only blemish over the last 36 holes was the double on 8, but did a good job of resetting and coming back with a birdie on 9.

“I guess this one was different than the PGA in terms of I had a decent lead to start the day. PGA, I felt like I struggled a bit on the front nine and was able to kind of push forward and win it on the back nine, whereas this one I felt like I built up a lead. It got a little close there after the double on 8, but like I said, bounced back on 9 and was able to keep a pretty sizable lead for most of the day.”