Xander Schauffele

Schauffele started to play golf at age 9. He was taught by his father, Stefan, who worked as an assistant professional in Hawaii before moving back to San Diego. Although born in La Jolla, California, Xander's family tree encompasses four nationalities. His mother is from Chinese Taipei (but grew up in Japan), and his father is half-French and half-German. His father was an elite athlete in Germany before being hit by a drunk driver in a head-on collision, which ended his dreams of being an Olympic decathlete.
Was voted Big West Freshman of the Year while attending Long Beach State in 2011-12. He was a two-time Southern California Amateur runner-up (2012-13) and won the 2014 California State Amateur. After transferring to San Diego State, he earned All-American honors in 2014-15.
After turning professional in 2015, he played in two Korn Ferry Tour events, missing the Stonebrae Classic cut and finishing T-42nd at the News Sentinel Open. At the end of the year, he got through Korn Ferry Tour Q-School, finishing T-45th to earn a spot on tour in 2016.
2016 Korn Ferry Tour Summary: Tournaments Entered - 23; Rounds Played - 75; In Money - 14; Top-10 Finishes - 4; Scoring Average - 69.51 (rank 32nd); Money - $149,292 (rank 26th); Best Finish - 3rd, Utah Championship, T-3rd Ellie Mae Classic. Finished as the bubble boy in the regular season at 26th on the Korn Ferry Tour Regular Season money list, falling $975 short of 25th place and a PGA Tour card. However, he secured his PGA Tour card for the 2016-17 season with a T-9th finish at the Nationwide Children's Hospital Championship to clinch one of the 25 PGA Tour cards earned during the Korn Ferry Tour Finals.
2017 Notes: In his second start, he had his first top-10 result, a T-5th at the Sanderson Farms Championship. He also finished T-5th at the U.S. Open. His big moment came three weeks later at The Greenbrier Classic when he birdied two of the last three holes, highlighted by a pitching wedge from 161 yards to three feet, three inches for birdie at the 18th hole, en route to a one-stroke win over Robert Streb. His first PGA Tour victory came in his 23rd start at age 23 years, 8 months, and 14 days, becoming the 12th player under the age of 25 to win on the PGA Tour for the year, the most since 1970. The victory secured his berth at Royal Birkdale for the British Open, where he finished T-20th. He comfortably made it into the FedExCup playoffs by finishing 33rd in the standings. A T-17th at the Northern Trust, T-53rd at the Dell Technologies Championship, and T-20th at the BMW Championship moved him to 26th on the points list to join the field for the season-ending Tour Championship. Rounds of 69-66-65-68 enabled him to defeat Justin Thomas, who would be the FedExCup champion, by a stroke. Schauffele became the first rookie to win the Tour Championship and climbed to 3rd place in the final FedExCup standings. He also won Rookie of the Year honors, the first rookie to win twice on the PGA Tour since Keegan Bradley in 2011.
2018 Notes: Played 27 PGA Tour events, making 22 cuts with seven top-10 finishes. He was 15th in the FedExCup standings. In his first start of the year, he finished T-3rd at the CIMB Classic. Finished T-3rd at the Dunlop Phoenix on the Japan Golf Tour, nine strokes behind winner Brooks Koepka. He added another top-10 with a T-9th at the Genesis Open. He was T-2nd at The Players Championship, four strokes behind winner Webb Simpson. At the U.S. Open, he placed T-6th, his second consecutive top-six finish at the major. He played in the final pairing at the British Open en route to a T-2nd finish, his third top-10 in just six major championship appearances (T-5th/2017 U.S. Open, T-6th/2018 U.S. Open, T-2nd/2018 British Open). He shared the 54-hole lead with Kevin Kisner and Jordan Spieth at nine-under. Suffered a bogey-bogey-double bogey stretch on the front nine (holes 5, 6, and 7) of the final round but rallied with birdies at 10 and 14 to reclaim a share of the lead, tied with Francesco Molinari at 7-under. While Molinari finished at eight-under, Schauffele dropped a stroke on the 17th to fall two behind Molinari. At the FedExCup playoffs, was T-3rd at the BMW Championship, one stroke out of the Bradley/Rose playoff. He failed to defend his Tour Championship, finishing T-7th.
2019 Notes: Played in 21 PGA Tour events, making 18 cuts with six top-10 finishes. He was 2nd in the FedExCup standings. He won the WGC-HSBC Champions in a playoff over Tony Finau. It was his third PGA Tour win in his 60th Tour start at age 25 years, 3 days. At the Sentry Tournament of Champions, he went into the final round five strokes behind leader Gary Woodland. He fired an 11-under-par 62 to defeat Woodland by a stroke. He had a T-10th result at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. After an opening-round 73 at the Masters, he shot rounds of 65-70-68 to finish T-2nd, just a stroke behind winner Tiger Woods. At the U.S. Open, he finished T-3rd, six strokes behind winner Gary Woodland, giving him six finishes of T-6th or better in 12 starts in the majors and Players Championship. Entered the FedExCup playoffs 4th, missed the cut at the Northern Trust, and finished T-19th at the BMW Championship. Entered the Tour Championship 8th in the standings and despite starting the week six strokes behind Justin Thomas in the FedExCup starting strokes format, shot 64-69-67-70 to make up ground on everyone except Rory McIlroy and finished 2nd in the FedExCup standings. He played in his first Presidents Cup and in four matches, had a 3-1 record, defeating Adam Scott 2 & 1 in singles.
2020 Notes: Played in 18 PGA Tour events, making 17 cuts with seven top-10 finishes. He was T-2nd in the FedExCup standings. In defense of the WGC-HSBC Champions title, he lost a playoff to Rory McIlroy. At the Sentry Tournament of Champions, he lost to Justin Thomas in a playoff in his title defense. He joined Tiger Woods to finish runner-up in title defense twice in a single season. After the break, he finished T-3rd at the Charles Schwab Challenge, a shot out of the Berger/Morikawa playoff. He placed T-6th at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, four strokes behind winner Justin Thomas. At the PGA Championship, he opened with a 66 and was T-3rd, then followed up with a 70-69-67 to finish T-10th, five strokes behind winner Collin Morikawa. In the FedExCup playoffs, he earned T-25th results at the Northern Trust and BMW Championship. Schauffele started the week at 3 under par at the Tour Championship, seven shots behind Dustin Johnson in the starting strokes format. With rounds of 67-65-67-66, he finished as low man of the week with a 265 score, and for the tournament, was 18 under par to finish T-2nd, three strokes behind winner Dustin Johnson. Of those in the top-11 of the FedExCup standings, Schauffele and Scottie Scheffler were the only players that didn't win in 2020.
2021 Notes: Played in 22 PGA Tour events, making 20 cuts with eight top-ten finishes. Was 5th in the FedExCup race. He finished 5th at the U.S. Open, his fourth start in the championship, with no finish worse than 6th. He was 2nd in the CJ Cup @ Shadow Creek, two strokes behind winner Jason Kokrak. Shot a final-round 66 to finish T-5th at the Sentry Tournament of Champions, four shots back of the Harris English/Joaquin Niemann playoff. Shot 68-69 in his hometown event, the Farmers Insurance Open, to finish T-2nd, five shots back of winner Patrick Reed. At the Waste Management Phoneix Open was the second-round leader and third-round co-leader. Shot-final round 71 and finished T-2nd, a shot back of winner Brooks Koepka. He finished T-3rd at the Masters in April, earning his sixth top-five in a major championship. He played in the final pairing in the final round. He made four consecutive birdies (holes. 12-15) to cut Hideki Matsuyama's lead to two shots before hitting his tee shot at No. 16 in the water, making a triple bogey. Marked his first triple bogey in a major championship, he finished three shots back of Matsuyama. Schauffele revealed via social media that he and college sweetheart Maya Lowe, who met while studying at San Diego State, married a few days after the U.S. Open. Shot 66-67 over the weekend at the Abrdn Scottish Open to finish T-10th four shots back of the Lee/Detry/Fitzpatrick playoff. He earned the gold medal at the Olympic Men's Golf Competition, representing the United States in Tokyo. He marked his first appearance in the Olympic Games. He held the outright lead after the second and third rounds before making a par at the 72nd hole to secure the one-shot victory. In the FedExCup playoffs was T-16th at the Northern Trust, T-49th at the BMW Championship, and shot 64 in the final round to finish T-5th at the Tour Championship. He was selected as a captain's pick to represent the United States at the Ryder Cup and in his first appearance, had a 3-1-0 record. Won all team events with Patrick Cantlay and Dustin Johnson, lost his singles match to Rory McIlroy 3 & 2.
2022 Notes: Played in 21 PGA Tour events, making 19 cuts with seven top-ten finishes. He was 4th in the FedExCup race. Was T-12th at the Hero World Challenge and T-18th at the Saudi International. At the Phoenix Open finished T-3rd a shot back of the Scheffler/Cantlay playoff. He was T-13th at the Genesis Invitational and T-12th at the Valspar Championship. Earned his fifth career PGA tour title at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, teaming with partner Patrick Cantlay to win the event in wire-to-wire fashion. The duo became the first in tournament history to break 60 in either format with a first-round 59 in four-ball. The victory came in his 129th career start at 28 years, 5 months, and 30 days. He recorded eight runner-up finishes between his fourth and fifth career wins (2019 Sentry Tournament of Champions, 2022 Zurich Classic of New Orleans). At the AT&T Byron Nelson, he made a double bogey on his third hole in the second round and was at 3 over and looking like he was going to miss the cut. But after that, he made eight birdies on his remaining holes to make the cut at 5-under. In his remaining 36 holes, he made 16 birdies and an eagle, playing his last 49 holes in 26 under par to finish T-5th, three shots back of winner K.H. Lee. With rounds of 63-63-67-68, Schauffele won the Travelers Championship for his first individual PGA Tour victory since the 2019 Sentry Tournament of Champions by two shots over Sahith Theegala and J.T. Poston. He won again in Ireland at the unofficial JP McManus Pro-am, shooting 64-70 for a one-shot win over Sam Burns. He won the Genesis Scottish Open by a shot over Kurt Kitayama, earning his seventh PGA Tour title and third of the season. The victory came in his first PGA Tour start after winning the Travelers Championship. He became the fifth American to win the Genesis Scottish Open and the first since Rickie Fowler in 2015. In the FedExCup playoffs was T-57th at the FedEx St. Jude. He finished T-3rd at the BMW Championship, his second top-five at the event. He was three shots back of winner Patrick Cantlay, who he was paired with all four rounds. He was 4th at the Tour Championship. He played in his second Presidents Cup and had a 3-1-0 record. He beat Corey Conners in singles 1 up.
2023 Notes: Played in 23 PGA Tour events, making 23 cuts with eleven top-ten finishes. He was 2nd in the FedExCup race. Was T-9th at the Zozo Championship and 4th at the Hero World Challenge. Withdrew from the Sentry Tournament of Champions with back pains during the second round. It was the first time he had ever had to withdraw, and the concern was that he had the same back pain a few weeks earlier at the Hero. Schauffele returned home and underwent scans and an MRI to diagnose the back pain. The good news was no tear, and the diagnosis was muscular, which meant some rest. He took a week off, trying not to rush, but felt OK about going to Palm Springs for the American Express. He said in his Wednesday press conference that he wasn't 100 percent, and he thought a portion of that was due to mental stress from the previous times the back hurt. After rounds of 65-68-68, he caught fire in the final round to shoot 62 to finish T-3rd, two shots back of winner Jon Rahm. The following week was T-13th at the Farmers Insurance and then T-10th at the WM Phoenix Open. In an interview with Sports Illustrated before Phoenix, he said the back was still touch and go, that he had taken further MRI, and doctors assured him there was nothing seriously wrong. He needed patience for it to heal entirely and for him to be pain-free. In the WGC-Dell Match Play, he won all three of his group play matches, beat J.J. Spaun 3 & 2 in the round of 16, but lost to Rory McIlroy 1 up. Finished T-10th at the Masters. Shot a final round 66 to finish 4th, two shots back of the Matt Fitzpatrick/Jordan Spieth playoff. Was T-4th with partner Patrick Cantlay at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. Finished 2nd at the Wells Fargo Championship, four shots back of winner Wyndham Clark. Schauffele had a one-shot lead over Clark with eleven holes left, but Schauffele played those last ten holes in one over why Clark was four under. He shot a first-round 62 at the U.S. Open and went on to finish T-10th, his sixth top-10 in seven starts at the U.S. Open. Became the third player to shoot a 62 or better in a major championship, joining Rickie Fowler, who shot a 62 on the same day, and Branden Grace (3rd round-2017 Open Championship). In the FedExCup playoffs was T-24th at the FedEx St. Jude and T-8th at the BMW Championship. Was 2nd at the Tour Championship. He was five shots back of winner Viktor Hovland, even though he shot the same 19-under score. He played in his second Ryder Cup and had a 1-3-9 record; he won his singles match against Nicolai Hojgaard.
2024 Notes: He placed T-3rd at the American Express, shooting 63-65 on the weekend, two shots back of winner Nick Dunlap. He also placed T-9th at the Farmers Insurance Open and T-4th at the Genesis Invitational, four shots back of winner Hideki Matsuyama. Was T-2nd at the Players Championship, a shot back of winner Scottie Scheffler. Shot a final round 65 to finish T-5th, four shots back of winner Peter Mainati.