Oftentimes regarded as the best golfer never to have won a major title, Xander Schauffele of San Diego got that proverbial monkey off his back this past Sunday by capturing the 106th edition of the PGA Championship at the Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville. Schauffele stood over a 6-foot putt on the final green, stroked the ball towards the center of the cup, and watched it drift slightly to the left before it made its very own victory-lap towards the right side of the cup, ultimately dropping into the hole. It was the first major win for the extremely talented Schauffele who has won eight PGA Tour events including the 2017 Tour Championship, the Olympic gold medal in 2021, and the highly regarded 2022 Scottish Open. Xander has been a member of two Presidents Cup teams and two Ryder Cup squads for Team USA.
The 30-year-old Schauffele grew up in San Diego and took to golf at a young age. Unlike other Southern California kids such as Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, Xander was a solid junior golfer but far from a dominant one. His father has always been his swing coach. His father's coaching methods dealt with practice and adjustment to the flight of the golf ball and he never saw his swing on film until he was 18 years old. Xander attended Scripps Ranch High School in San Diego and won the state high school individual championship as a senior. He attended California State University Long Beach for one year and was named the Big West freshman of the year. He then transferred back home to San Diego State University and received his degree in 2015. During his three years at SDSU, Xander was recognized as a third team all-American and he received the Mountain West all-Academic Award on two occasions. He also set a school record at San Diego for the lowest round in a tournament, coming in at -17 under par.
During the summer of 2014 Xander crossed paths with future PGA Tour professional Beau Hossler on two occasions. Schauffele beat Hossler in the finals to win the California State Amateur at La Costa. Later that summer Beau flipped the switch and defeated Xander in the finals of the Western Amateur at Beverly in Chicago.
Schauffele turned pro upon graduation in 2015 and had enough high finishes in a limited Web.com Tour schedule to earn exempt status onto that mini-tour for 2016. He played in 23 tournaments, finished 26th on the money list, and was able to advance to the PGA Tour in 2017 as a result of a 15th place finish in the Web.com finals. From that moment on Xander never looked back. He won twice in 2017, won a World Golf Championship in 2018, and captured the TOC at Kapalua in January of 2019. Xander won three times in 2022, taking home the Zurich Classic two man with good friend Patrick Cantlay, won at Hartford in July, and then won the big money event in Scotland in July 2022.
Xander continued to play well and record high finishes, but he couldn't find the winner's circle after Scotland. From 2017 through this year's Masters, Schauffele recorded 12 top 10 finishes in the majors including a second place finish in the British Open in 2018. He was close, but… Xander opened play on Thursday with a -9 under par 62, the lowest score in the history of the PGA Championship. His efforts were somewhat forgotten on Friday because of the death of a tournament worker and the arrest of Masters champ Scottie Scheffler. Nonetheless Xander carded a 68 in the midst of the chaos and did the same on Saturday to go into the final round at -15 under par, tied with two time major champ and Cal-Berkeley alum, Collin Morikawa.
Morikawa played par golf on Sunday and fell out of the lead, but Xander was closely pursued by Justin Rose, Robert MacIntyre, past British Open champ Shane Lowry, and LIV golf regular, Bryson DeChambeau. In the three previous PGAs at Valhalla, there had been two playoffs and a one stroke victory, and as the score board tightened on Sunday a playoff seemed imminent. As the golfers headed down the stretch it was a three man race with DeChambeau, Viktor Hovland, and Schauffele. Going into 18, Viktor missed a birdie putt to get to -20 under and ended up three putting. DeChambeau made a dramatic 12 footer for birdie to get to -20 under. Xander stepped onto the 18th tee at –20 under, needing a birdie to win and a par to tie.
A slightly pulled drive meant that Schauffele had to play short of the par five green due to an uneven lie. His second shot came up 35 yards short of the green and he was able to wedge it to 6 feet. That 6- footer dropped… barely, and Xander had that ever elusive major.
Schauffele has the sort of game that could get him another major or two, especially at the U.S. Open or again at the PGA. DeChambeau seems more comfortable in his skin and his power game does travel. Shane Lowry showed his ability to be a factor in majors and it seems as if it's only a matter of time before Viktor Hovland wins a grand slam tournament. Finally it's hard to believe that Scottie Scheffler will have another week of bizarre distractions. He nonetheless finished tied for eighth place alongside two time PGA champion Justin Thomas.
The next major championship on the PGA Tour's schedule is the 124th United States Open at historic Pinehurst, the home of golden age architect Donald Ross. Just like last week at Valhalla it should be a battle of the big guns for prestige and a place in golf history.
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