Xander Schauffele


Alexander Victor Schauffele is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour and the European Tour.

Early life

Schauffele, who is known exclusively as Xander Schauffele in the golfing world, was born in San Diego, California to a German/French naturalized immigrant father and a Taiwanese naturalized immigrant mother. Schauffele's father has been his only swing coach throughout his golfing career. The Schauffele 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.
Two of Schauffele's great-grandfathers played soccer at the European premier level. Johann Hoffmann played for his and won multiple Austrian, Bohemian, and French 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, playing for Scripps Ranch High School.
After graduating from high school, Schauffele played his freshman year in college at Long Beach State University, where he garnered the 2012 Big West Conference Freshman of the Year as well as the 2012 First Team All-Big West awards.
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 ; all-time career scoring average ; as well as the seasonal records for par-5 performance ; birdies and eagles.
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.
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.

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.

2016 Web.com Tour

In 2016, Schauffele played a full season 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.

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. Furthermore, Schauffele is one of only 15 players to ever reach 10 under par at a U.S. Open. 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.
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. 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, Daniel Berger and Emiliano Grillo.

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.
Schauffele tied for second with a score of six-under-par at the 2018 Open Championship at Carnoustie Golf Links.
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. Schauffele ultimately finished T7 at the 2018 Tour Championship, while placing 15th in the season-long FedEx Cup

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. 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.

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, defeating Tony Finau.
On January 6, 2019, Schauffele won the Sentry Tournament of Champions at The Plantation Course at Kapalua Resort in Maui, Hawaii. 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, Graeme McDowell, Chris Kirk and Jason Day.
On April 14, Schauffele tied for second in the Masters Tournament, one stroke behind champion Tiger Woods. After opening with a 1-over 73, 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. 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 and Jordan Spieth.
On June 16, 2019, Schauffele finished tied for 3rd at the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach Golf Links in Pebble Beach, California.
In early August 2019, Schauffele placed 4th in the inaugural 2019 Wyndham Rewards Top 10, 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.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.
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.

R&A driver conformity issues

On July 16, 2019, 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 Schauffele's 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, 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.

Amateur wins

Source:

Professional wins (5)

PGA Tour wins (4)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin of
victory		Runner-up
1Jul 9, 2017Greenbrier Classic64-69-66-67=266−141 stroke Robert Streb
2Sep 24, 2017Tour Championship69-66-65-68=268−121 stroke Justin Thomas
3Oct 28, 2018WGC-HSBC Champions66-71-69-68=274−14Playoff Tony Finau
4Jan 6, 2019Sentry Tournament of Champions72-67-68-62=269−231 stroke Gary Woodland

PGA Tour playoff record
No.YearTournamentOpponentResult
12018WGC-HSBC Champions Tony FinauWon with birdie on first extra hole
22019WGC-HSBC Champions Rory McIlroyLost to birdie on first extra hole
32020Sentry Tournament of Champions Patrick Reed, Justin ThomasThomas won with birdie on third extra hole
Schauffele eliminated with birdie on first hole

European Tour wins (1)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin of
victory		Runner-up
1Oct 28, 2018WGC-HSBC Champions66-71-69-68=274−14Playoff Tony Finau

European Tour playoff record
No.YearTournamentOpponentResult
12018WGC-HSBC Champions Tony FinauWon with birdie on first extra hole
22019WGC-HSBC Champions Rory McIlroyLost to birdie on first extra hole

Other wins (1)

Results in major championships

Results not in chronological order in 2020.
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
NT = No tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic

Summary

CUT = missed the halfway cut

"T" indicates a tie for a place

World Golf Championships

Wins (1)

Results timeline

1Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
NT = No tournament
"T" = Tied

PGA Tour career summary

* As of the 2019 season

European Tour career summary

* As of August 30, 2019

U.S. national team appearances

Professional