Xander Schauffele

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Xander Schauffele
Xander Schauffele 2020 Farmers Open.jpg
Schauffele in January 2020
Personal information
Full nameAlexander Victor Schauffele
Born (1993-10-25) October 25, 1993 (age 28)
San Diego, California, U.S.
Height5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Weight175 lb (79 kg; 12.5 st)
Sporting nationality United States
ResidenceLas Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
Spouse
Maya Schauffele
​
(m. 2021)​
Career
CollegeCalifornia State University Long Beach
San Diego State University
Turned professional2015
Current tour(s)PGA Tour
Former tour(s)European Tour
Web.com Tour
Professional wins6
Highest ranking4 (January 10, 2021)[1]
(as of January 16, 2022)
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour4
European Tour1
Other2
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentT2: 2019
PGA ChampionshipT10: 2020
U.S. OpenT3: 2019
The Open ChampionshipT2: 2018
Achievements and awards
PGA Tour
Rookie of the Year		2017
Medal record
Representing  United States
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2020 Tokyo Golf

Alexander Victor Schauffele (/ˈzændər ˈʃaʊfəleɪ/; born October 25, 1993) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour, notching four wins since turning pro in 2015. Schauffele's best major finish is T2 at both the 2018 Open Championship and the 2019 Masters. Schauffele also has a win on the European Tour. Schauffele won the Olympic gold medal at the men's individual golf event of the 2020 Summer Olympics.

Early life[]

Schauffele was born on October 25, 1993 in San Diego, California to a German/French naturalized immigrant father and a Taiwanese naturalized immigrant mother who grew up in Japan. His father has been his only swing coach throughout his golf career.[2] Schauffele’s teaching philosophy relies heavily on basic ball flight laws and golf club mechanics – as a result Schauffele had not seen his own swing until about age 18.[3]

Two of Schauffele's great-grandfathers played soccer at the European premier level. Johann Hoffmann played for the Austria national football team and won multiple Austrian (SK Rapid Wien), Bohemian (DSV Saaz), and French (FC Sochaux; Racing Strasbourg) national titles. After playing football for VfB Stuttgart, Richard Schauffele excelled in track and field, garnering over 40 titles in discus, javelin and shot put for 2 clubs, the Stuttgarter Kickers and the Cannstatter Ruder-Club.

Amateur career[]

Schauffele was the individual winner of the 2011 California State High School Championship (California Interscholastic Federation, CIF), playing for Scripps Ranch High School.[4] After graduating from high school, Schauffele played his freshman year in college at California State University Long Beach, where he garnered the 2012 Big West Conference Freshman of the Year as well as the 2012 First Team All-Big West awards.[5]

Prior to his sophomore year, Schauffele transferred to San Diego State University, where eventually he would play out his college career and graduate in 2015. During his three years at SDSU, Schauffele was a Ping and Golfweek Third Team All-American. Scholastically, he was twice awarded the Mountain West Conference All-Academic Team Award. At SDSU, he holds the records for all-time lowest tournament score against par (−17); all-time career scoring average (71.50); as well as the seasonal records for par-5 performance (4.5135); birdies (171) and eagles (9).[6]

Schauffele defeated Beau Hossler to win the 2014 California State Amateur Championship at La Costa Resort and Spa. Later that summer, the two long time rivals met again in a final at Chicago's Beverly Country Club for the 2014 Western Amateur where Schauffele lost to Hossler in the final match in dramatic fashion.[7]

Schauffele accumulated a collegiate record that features 3 wins, 4 runners-up, 19 top-fives and 27 top-tens in a total of 50 tournaments. He was ranked in the top 10 of the World Amateur Golf Ranking at the time he turned professional in 2015.[5][6][8]

Professional career[]

After turning professional in June 2015, Schauffele entered the 2015 Web.com Tour Qualifying Tournament in fall. He was runner up in first stage at Southern Dunes GC in Maricopa, Arizona. He went on to win second stage at Oak Valley GC in Beaumont, California and ultimately, narrowly, earned his Web.com Tour card in the finals in Florida in a tie for 45th.[9][10]

2016 Web.com Tour[]

In 2016, Schauffele played a full season (23 events) on the Web.com Tour. He finished 26th on the regular-season money list, missing a PGA Tour card for 2017 by less than $1000.00, but went on to earn a card through the Web.com Tour Finals by finishing 15th on the Finals money list (excluding the 25 regular-season graduates).[11]

2016–17 PGA Tour: two wins, Rookie of the Year[]

Schauffele made his PGA Tour debut at the CareerBuilder Challenge in La Quinta, California. In his first round at the 2017 U.S. Open held at Erin Hills, Schauffele recorded a bogey-free 6-under-par 66. This marked the first time in U.S. Open history for a player to shoot a bogey-free round of 66 or better in his national championship debut.[12] Furthermore, Schauffele is one of only 15 players to ever reach 10 under par at a U.S. Open.[13] After his opening 66, he shot rounds of 73-70-69 to finish in a tie for fifth place, earning him an exemption into the 2018 U.S. Open.

Only three weeks later, on July 9, 2017, Schauffele recorded his first PGA Tour victory at the Greenbrier Classic. He started the final round three shots behind leader Sebastián Muñoz, who had led since the first round. Schauffele shot a 3-under-par 67, which included two birdies in his final three holes, to win by one stroke over Robert Streb. With the win, he earned exemptions into the Open Championship, via the Open Qualifying Series, the PGA Championship and the 2018 Masters Tournament.

Schauffele began the 2017 FedEx Cup Playoffs 33rd in the standings. Entering the third and penultimate leg of the playoffs, the 2017 BMW Championship, he was 32nd, needing to move up at least two spots to advance to the 2017 Tour Championship. Schauffele played the final six holes of the tournament in 6-under-par with a birdie-birdie-eagle-birdie-par-birdie finish and rose to 26th.[14]

At the 2017 Tour Championship, Schauffele birdied the 72nd hole to win by one stroke over Justin Thomas, becoming the first rookie ever to win the Tour Championship. Schauffele's win also marked the first time a rookie has won any FedEx Cup playoff event.[15] The win moved Schauffele to third place in the final FedEx Cup standings, bettering the previous best mark by a rookie held by Jordan Spieth by four positions. The win moved Schauffele to 32nd in the Official World Golf Ranking, up 267 spots from his 2016 year-end finish of No. 299, and gave him a three-year PGA Tour exemption through the 2019–20 season. Schauffele was voted "Rookie of the Year 2017" by his peers on October 2, 2017. He is the fourth member of the high school class of 2011 to earn PGA Tour Rookie of the Year honors, joining Jordan Spieth (2013), Daniel Berger (2015) and Emiliano Grillo (2016).[16]

2017–18 PGA Tour[]

At the beginning of 2018, Schauffele switched equipment manufacturers, joining team Callaway. It is worth mentioning that although Schauffele's rookie season on the PGA Tour was the 2016–17 season, by the time the 2017–18 season concluded, of the 27 events played, Schauffele had played 17 venues that were new to him.

On May 13, 2018, Schauffele finished T2 at the 2018 Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass with a score of 14 under par.[17]

Schauffele tied for second with a score of six-under-par at the 2018 Open Championship at Carnoustie Golf Links.[18]

Schauffele began the 2018 FedEx Cup Playoffs in 28th position in the standings. Entering the third of four events in the playoff series, the 2018 BMW Championship, he was 41st, needing to move up at least eleven spots to advance to the Tour Championship. Schauffele finished in a tie for third to rise to 18th position. That finish allowed him the opportunity to attempt to defend his 2017 Tour Championship title.[19] Schauffele ultimately finished T7 at the 2018 Tour Championship, while placing 15th in the season-long FedEx Cup.[20]

2018 European Tour[]

Schauffele joined the 2018 European Tour as an associate member. With his win at the 2018 WGC-HSBC Champions, Schauffele rose in the European Tour's Order of Merit, the year long points race dubbed the European Tour Race to Dubai, to 4th position.[21] Schauffele entered the European Tour final event, the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai, in 5th position. With a final round score of 6-under-par 66, which equaled the lowest score of the day, Schauffele finished T16. This ensured a season-ending 4th position on the Order of Merit and participation in the 2018 European Tour's bonus pool.[22]

2018–19 PGA Tour: 2 wins; Presidents Cup[]

On October 28, 2018, Schauffele won the WGC-HSBC Champions event in Shanghai, China at the Sheshan Golf Club. Schauffele won on the first playoff hole (number 18), defeating Tony Finau.[23]

On January 6, 2019, Schauffele won the Sentry Tournament of Champions at The Plantation Course at Kapalua Resort in Maui, Hawaii.[24] He shot 11-under-par 62 in the final round to pass Gary Woodland, who held a 5-shot lead on Schauffele entering the final round. Schauffele's final round 62 tied the course record at The Plantation Course. He is tied with K. J. Choi (2003), Graeme McDowell (2011), Chris Kirk (2015) and Jason Day (2015).[25]

On April 14, Schauffele tied for second in the Masters Tournament, one stroke behind champion Tiger Woods. After opening with a 1-over 73, he recorded rounds of 65-70-68 to finish T2 at the Masters Tournament with Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka. Schauffele's finish at the Masters Tournament represented his third top-five in eight starts at major championships (T5 at 2017 U.S. Open, T2 at 2018 Open Championship, T2 at 2019 Masters Tournament). He led the field with 25 birdies, becoming the third player since 1980 to have 25 or more birdies in a single Masters, joining Phil Mickelson (25 in 2001) and Jordan Spieth (28 in 2015).[26]

On June 16, 2019, Schauffele finished tied for 3rd at the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach Golf Links in Pebble Beach, California.[27]

In early August 2019, Schauffele placed 4th in the inaugural 2019 Wyndham Rewards Top 10,[28] thus entering the 2019 Playoffs in 4th position in the FedEx Cup rankings. In accordance with the new 2019 playoff format, Schauffele found himself in 8th position after the first two of a total of three playoff events and arrived at East Lake Golf Club for the playing of the 2019 Tour Championship with a 6 shot deficit to initially #1 positioned Justin Thomas. Schauffele was able to erase the deficit after the very first round with a score of 6-under-par 64 and was tied for the lead going into Friday.[29] On Sunday August 25, Schauffele finished out the season with a solo second place at the 2019 Tour Championship, which also placed him in a solo second position in the 2019 FedEx Cup – his highest finish to date.[30]

In December 2019, Schauffele played on the U.S. team at the 2019 Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Australia. The U.S. team won 16–14. Schauffele went 3-2-0 and won his Sunday singles match against International team star and veteran Adam Scott. Some in golf media called Schauffele the "unsung hero" of the U.S. team.[31]

2021: Olympic Gold[]

Coming to the 16th hole of the final round at Augusta, Schauffele was two shots behind the leader, and placed second. However, at the hole he scored a triple bogey, and ultimately finished third.

On August 1, Schauffele recorded a final-round of 67 to win the Olympic gold medal. He made an up-and-down for par on the last hole to beat Slovakian Rory Sabbatini by one shot.[32] With the accomplishment, Schauffele became the first American since 1900 to win an Olympic gold medal in golf.[33]

In September 2021, Schauffele played on the U.S. team in the 2021 Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wisconsin. The U.S. team won 19–9 and Schauffele went 3–1–0 and lost his Sunday singles match against Rory McIlroy.

R&A driver conformity issues[]

At the 2019 Open Championship, The R&A found Schauffele's driver failed to meet CT test requirements. Schauffele was forced to scramble for a replacement driver. The R&A made 30 random inspections of players' clubs and his driver was found to be one of four drivers of the 30 strong sample not to comply with the CT test requirements. The manufacturers' brands that had drivers fail the CT test are: Callaway, Ping and Taylormade. It also has become public knowledge that during a testing in May 2019 at the Diamond Cup Golf event on the Japan Golf Tour, some 15 drivers in the field had failed the very same CT test requirements. Rumors that Schauffele's driver was the only one and additionally the first one ever to fail The R&A's CT test were proven unfounded and false.[34][35][36]

Amateur wins[]

Source:[37]

Professional wins (6)[]

PGA Tour wins (4)[]

Legend
World Golf Championships (1)
FedEx Cup playoff events (1)
Other PGA Tour (2)
No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory		 Runner-up
1 Jul 9, 2017 Greenbrier Classic 64-69-66-67=266 −14 1 stroke United States Robert Streb
2 Sep 24, 2017 Tour Championship 69-66-65-68=268 −12 1 stroke United States Justin Thomas
3 Oct 28, 2018 WGC-HSBC Champions 66-71-69-68=274 −14 Playoff United States Tony Finau
4 Jan 6, 2019 Sentry Tournament of Champions 72-67-68-62=269 −23 1 stroke United States Gary Woodland

PGA Tour playoff record (1–2)

No. Year Tournament Opponent(s) Result
1 2018 WGC-HSBC Champions United States Tony Finau Won with birdie on first extra hole
2 2019 WGC-HSBC Champions Northern Ireland Rory McIlroy Lost to birdie on first extra hole
3 2020 Sentry Tournament of Champions United States Patrick Reed, United States Justin Thomas Thomas won with birdie on third extra hole
Schauffele eliminated by birdie on first hole

European Tour wins (1)[]

Legend
World Golf Championships (1)
Other European Tour (0)
No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory		 Runner-up
1 Oct 28, 2018 WGC-HSBC Champions 66-71-69-68=274 −14 Playoff United States Tony Finau

European Tour playoff record (1–1)

No. Year Tournament Opponent Result
1 2018 WGC-HSBC Champions United States Tony Finau Won with birdie on first extra hole
2 2019 WGC-HSBC Champions Northern Ireland Rory McIlroy Lost to birdie on first extra hole

Other wins (2)[]

No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory		 Runner-up
1 Sep 17, 2015 Northern California Open 70-69-65=204 −7 1 stroke United States
2 Aug 1, 2021 Olympic Games 68-63-68-67=266 −18 1 stroke Slovakia Rory Sabbatini

Results in major championships[]

Results not in chronological order in 2020.

Tournament 2017 2018
Masters Tournament T50
U.S. Open T5 T6
The Open Championship T20 T2
PGA Championship CUT T35
Tournament 2019 2020 2021
Masters Tournament T2 T17 T3
PGA Championship T16 T10 CUT
U.S. Open T3 5 T7
The Open Championship T41 NT T26
  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
NT = No tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic

Summary[]

Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts made
Masters Tournament 0 1 1 2 2 3 4 4
PGA Championship 0 0 0 0 1 2 5 3
U.S. Open 0 0 1 3 5 5 5 5
The Open Championship 0 1 0 1 1 2 4 4
Totals 0 2 2 6 9 12 18 16
  • Most consecutive cuts made – 12 (2018 Masters – 2021 Masters)
  • Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (twice)

Results in The Players Championship[]

Tournament 2018 2019 2020 2021
The Players Championship T2 CUT C CUT
  Top 10

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
C = Canceled after the first round due to the COVID-19 pandemic

World Golf Championships[]

Wins (1)[]

Year Championship 54 holes Winning score Margin Runner-up
2018 WGC-HSBC Champions 3 shot deficit −14 (66-71-69-68=274) Playoff United States Tony Finau

Results timeline[]

Tournament 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Championship T18 T14 T14 T39
Match Play T17 T24 NT1 T18
Invitational T17 68 T27 T6 T46
Champions T46 1 2 NT1 NT1

1Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic

  Win
  Top 10
  Did not play

NT = No tournament
"T" = Tied

PGA Tour career summary[]

Season Starts Cuts
made		 Wins 2nd 3rd Top-10 Top-25 Best
finish		 Earnings
($)[38]		 Money
list rank		 FedEx
Cup rank[39]		 Scoring
avg (adj)		 Scoring
rank[40]
2016 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 CUT - - - - -
2017 28 20 2 0 0 4 11 1 4,312,674 12 3 70.16 27
2018 27 22 0 2 2 7 12 2 4,047,538 18 15 70.49 55
2019 21 18 2 2 1 6 14 1 5,609,456 6 2 69.834 11
2020 18 17 0 3 1 7 16 2 3,813,636 11 2 69.227 5
Career* 96 77 4 7 4 24 53 1 17,783,305 98[41]

* As of the 2020 season

European Tour career summary[]

Season Starts Cuts
made		 Wins 2nd 3rd Top-10 Top-25 Earnings
(€)		 Order of
Merit rank
2017 5 5 0 0 0 1 3 623,383 0
2018 9 9 1 1 0 3 6 2,779,425 4
2019 7 7 0 1 1 2 5 1,700,119 10
2020 5 5 0 0 0 3 5 1,162,319 N/A - not enough events to qualify
Career* 26 26 1 2 1 9 19 [42]

* As of December 31, 2020. Note that there is double counting of money and finishes for majors and World Golf Championships between PGA Tour and European Tour stats

U.S. national team appearances[]

Professional

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Week 2 2021 Ending 10 Jan 2021" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved January 11, 2021.
  2. ^ "Xander Schauffele appears to be catching fire at the right time". PGA Tour. Retrieved July 3, 2017.
  3. ^ "Seizing on dream taken away from dad, Xander Schauffele turns heads in 1st major". Golfweek. Retrieved July 3, 2017.
  4. ^ "CIF past winners". Southern California Golf Association.
  5. ^ a b "Xander Schauffele profile". Long Beach State Athletics. Retrieved April 6, 2017.
  6. ^ a b "SDSU Aztecs Record Book" (PDF). Retrieved April 6, 2017.
  7. ^ "Beau Hossler Defeats Xander Schauffele for Western Amateur Title". Golf Channel. August 2, 2014. Retrieved October 8, 2016.
  8. ^ "Xander Schauffele profile". San Diego State Aztecs. Retrieved April 6, 2017.
  9. ^ "Swensson takes medalist honors at Q-school". PGA Tour. December 13, 2015.
  10. ^ "Three Aztec Golfers Earn Web.com Tour Status". San Diego State University. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
  11. ^ Becoats, Kellen (September 24, 2016). "Web.com Tour: Lindheim on a roll after late arrival to pro golf". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved October 8, 2016.
  12. ^ Berhow, Josh (June 16, 2017). "5 things to know about Xander Schauffele, the Tour rookie contending at the U.S. Open". Golf.com. Retrieved June 20, 2017.
  13. ^ Daly, Dan (June 19, 2017). "U.S. Open Recap". VegasInsider.com. Retrieved June 21, 2017.
  14. ^ Gray, Will (September 17, 2017). "Finau, Cantlay, Schauffele crash Tour Championship". Golf Channel. Retrieved September 25, 2017.
  15. ^ Everill, Ben (September 24, 2017). "Schauffele charges to claim Tour Championship". PGA Tour. Retrieved September 24, 2017.
  16. ^ "Xander Schauffele voted 2017 Rookie of the Year". PGA Tour. October 3, 2017. Retrieved October 3, 2017.
  17. ^ McGovern, Ted (May 16, 2018). "Xander Schauffele Ties For 2nd At The Players Championship". MountainWestWire.
  18. ^ Murray, Scott (July 22, 2018). "The Open 2018: Francesco Molinari wins title on day of drama – as it happened". The Guardian.
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  22. ^ "European Tour Race to Dubai - Ranking 2018". November 18, 2018. Retrieved November 18, 2018.
  23. ^ "Schauffele wins WGC-HSBC Champions in playoff". Reuters. October 28, 2018. Retrieved October 30, 2018.
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  28. ^ "2019 Wyndham Rewards Top 10". thegolfnewsnet.com. Retrieved August 30, 2019.
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  31. ^ Ryan, Shane (December 15, 2019). "Presidents Cup 2019: Xander Schauffele is the easy choice for unsung hero of the U.S. team". Golf Digest.
  32. ^ Stafford, Ali (August 1, 2021). "Tokyo Olympics: Xander Schauffele wins golf gold as Rory McIlroy, Paul Casey miss out on medals". Sky Sports.
  33. ^ "Tokyo Olympics: Xander Schauffele wins gold on dramatic final day". BBC Sport. August 1, 2021. Retrieved August 10, 2021.
  34. ^ Wall, Jonathan (July 29, 2019). "Callaway CEO Chip Brewer defends Xander Schauffele". Golf.com.
  35. ^ "Callaway CEO on failed driver test". Golf Digest. July 29, 2019.
  36. ^ "Schauffele becomes first ever to fail R&A driver COR test". MSN. July 19, 2019.
  37. ^ "Xander Schauffele". World Amateur Golf Ranking. Retrieved June 27, 2018.
  38. ^ "Official Money". PGA Tour. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
  39. ^ "FedExCup Playoffs Points". PGA Tour. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
  40. ^ "Scoring Average". PGA Tour. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
  41. ^ "Career Money Leaders". PGA Tour. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
  42. ^ "Xander Schauffele". European Tour. Retrieved December 31, 2020.

External links[]

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