PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland >> Scottie Scheffler had all the time in the world to celebrate his latest major title. This British Open was never in doubt Sunday as golf’s No. 1 player delivered another dominant performance to win his second major this year and grab the third leg of the career Grand Slam.

Scheffler began with a shot into 10 inches for birdie. One hour into the final round, his lead already was seven shots and no got closer than four the rest of the way at Royal Portrush.

He closed with a 3-under 68 for a four-shot victory, sending him to the U.S. Open next year with a chance to make it a clean sweep of golf’s biggest titles.

Scheffler won the Masters by three shots in 2022 and by four shots last year. He won the PGA Championship by five shots in May.

And then he arrived in Northern Ireland and shared some extraordinary insight when he said celebrating tournament wins doesn’t last but a few minutes before it was on to the next one. He loves the work required to be the best. He thrives on competition. But in terms of fulfillment, he often questions why he wants to win so badly when the thrill of winning is fleeting.

He tapped in for par on the final hole, making it all look so routine. But then he saw his family, thrust both arms into the air, pumped both arms and tossed his cap in the air. That’s what it was all about for the 29-year-old from Texas.

And he gets to keep the silver claret jug for a year.

Rory McIlroy referred to the outcome as “inevitable” when Scheffler built a four-shot lead going into the final round, and it was every bit of that.

Meanwhile, Sergio Garcia played the last 16 holes of his 26th appearance at the major without his driver after snapping the club in frustration just five shots into his final round at Royal Portrush, Northern Ireland.

Having opened with par, the 45-year-old wasted little time in showing his displeasure when his drive from the second tee careened left into the rough alongside the fairway. In an almost fluid follow through from his swing, ball still in the air, García slammed his driver into the turf.

The outburst stopped there, but the damage was done, as the lower half of the severed club bounced away towards the 11-time PGA Tour winner’s bag. With players permitted to repair or replace clubs “except in cases of abuse,” as per the rules of tournament organizers The R&A, García headed on without one of his most important weapons.

On his return to the clubhouse, García said he had not been trying to break the club and was “surprised” to see it snap in half.

“I’ve done that 50 times, and I’ve never broken a club,” he told reporters.

“I don’t know, maybe the shaft had a little thing there because I didn’t feel like with what I did it should have broken, but that’s what it was, and then I got some good practice when I threw it.”

Yet, despite not having all 14 clubs, the 2017 Masters champion still went on to card his best round of a solid week on the Causeway Coast.

After recovering superbly at the par-five second to make birdie, García poured in four more — including three across the back nine — to shoot three-under 68, bettering his third round bogey-free 70 and lifting him to three-under par overall.

Though that left him well short of tournament leader Scottie Scheffler, who took a four-shot advantage into the final round at 14-under par, it looks set to be a marked improvement on his last outing at the major: a tied-68th finish at St Andrews in 2022.

“(If) I started with 14 (clubs), I don’t know, maybe I would have shot worse. You never know,” García said.

Runner-up in both 2007 and 2014, García had played in 24 successive Opens before falling short at Final Qualifying in the past two years.

An agonizing missed putt from three feet in March looked to have extinguished his hopes of a place in this year’s field, only for him to subsequently secure his spot as the leading non-exempt player on the LIV Golf rankings — a new entry category introduced for the 153rd edition of the tournament.

García will be hoping his performance impressed European Ryder Cup Captain Luke Donald, as the biennial competition’s all-time record points scorer (28.5) looks to make the Englishman’s roster for the 45th edition in Farmingdale, New York this September.

Should he be chosen as a wildcard, six-time winner García would draw level with Nick Faldo and Lee Westwood for the most Ryder Cup appearances for Europe (11), one shy of American Phil Mickelson’s all-time record.

“It’s no secret that we have been talking,” García said of Donald Sunday. “It would mean the world to me to be there. Obviously if I can help the team, that’s my main goal, I’ve always said it.

“I think that I can bring things to the team … to any team that would probably need it. Obviously at the end of the day, he’s going to make whatever he thinks is the best decision for him and his team.”

“It’s still a couple months to go. I wish I could have a crystal ball and see the future, but unfortunately, I cannot,” he added.