Schauffele, after the Open win, chases Olympic Gold. Again.

He holds the claret jug. Now Xander Schauffele reaches for Olympic gold. Again. From Troon to Paris. From dreams to reality. From near misses to wild success.

From the beaches of San Diego to the top of the world—and that’s not a reference to the rankings, where Scottie Scheffler remains No. 1.

But if Schauffele continues his ascent or even duplicates his bravura performances the last two months, in time he could move ahead of Scheffler, former British Ryder Cup captain, Peter McGinley said on the Golf Channel.

For the present, we consider how the 30-year-old Schauffele, who previously hadn’t finished first in a major, took the PGA Championship at Valhalla in May and then Sunday took the 152nd Open at Royal Troon in Scotland.

Schauffele entered the final round of the Open tied for second with five others one stroke behind leader Billy Horschel. And then quickly enough served notice with a birdie on Troon’s infamous Railway Hole, the 11th, the most difficult on the course.

Striding elegantly down the 18th fairway in front of boisterous crowds—they so love their golf in Scotland—Schauffele came in with a 6-under par 65 and a four-day total of 275 (9 under).

That was two strokes ahead of third-round leader Billy Horschel (68) and Justin Rose (67), who tied for second at 277. It wasn’t as if Schauffele was a disappointment. He won a Scottish Open and the Men’s golf division of the Tokyo Olympics in 2016.

What’s important in golf, however, is winning one of the four majors. He had none. Now he has two.

“I think winning the first one helped me a lot (Sunday), on the back nine,” said Schauffele. “I had some feeling of calmness come through. It was very helpful on one of the hardest back nines I have ever played in a tournament.” 

Which it is supposed to be. The Open is the oldest tournament in golf and depending on the weather and the width of the fairways is often the most difficult.

After half a day of driving rain Saturday, the weather was clear Sunday, albeit hardly warm. The temperature was in the low 60s, not taking into account the wind chill.

Schauffele was always accurate. Within the last year, he has picked up distance to go with the accuracy, which as pointed out made him a factor in the majors. 

“He has a lot of horsepower,” Rose said about Schauffele. “He’s good with a wedge, he’s great with a putter. He hits the ball a long way. Obviously his iron play is strong, so he’s got a lot of weapons out there. I think one of his most unappreciated ones is his mentality. He’s such a calm guy out there.”

One of the reasons for his stability is his confidence developed through practice and persistence. He said that playing in the Scottish Open enabled him to understand the vagaries of lynx golf, which is far different than that played on a course in the United States.

“It’s a dream come true to win two majors in one year,” Schauffele said. “It took me forever just to win one, and to have two now is something else.”

Valhalla drama ends with Schauffele finally winning a major

LOUISVILLE, Ky. —  It seemed less a sporting competition than a Hitchcockian drama, with police involvement, unpredictable weather, and an ending as thrilling as anyone could wish.

The 106th PGA Championship, on a course named for a resting place for mythological Norse warriors, gave us a battle that went down to the wire. Which is perfect in a city best known for horse racing. 

The guy who won it, Xander Schauffle, wasn’t exactly a long shot, but in years of trying he never had finished better than second in a major championship. Until Sunday.

Schauffele had been in the lead or tied for the lead since he shot a 9-under 62 Thursday at Valhalla Golf Club — well except for a hole during Sunday’s final round when he double-bogeyed the 10th.

That was followed by birdies on 11 and 12. Somehow it was going to be his tournament. And that was inexorably determined when Schauffele drilled in a six-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole which broke a tie with Bryson DeChambeau.

Schauffele shot a 6-under par 65, for a total of 263, which is a ridiculous 21 under and the lowest 36-hole score in history for a major.

Remember that promo about the Tour: “These guys are good”? Truth be told, they’re amazing.

Look, Valhalla is difficult. It has hosted four PGA Championships and a Ryder Cup. Tiger Woods couldn’t even make the cut. And Shauffele shot a 62. And Saturday so did Shane Lowry. You know what happened to Scottie Scheffler, the No.1 ranked player in the world, he got caught in a traffic tie-up while heading to the round on Friday he drove through police barriers, was arrested, and spent a few hours in jail. His Saturday round, understandably, was a disaster. He dropped from fourth to 24th. Oh, but Sunday he was back to his world-ranked self, a 65, and tied for eighth.     

Not that anyone knowledgeable about golf ever would confuse Schauffele (born in California and a San Diego State grad) and Scheffler (who moved to Texas very young and went to the U of Texas) but now Xander has taken a step out of any shadow. He had won the gold medal for golf at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Asked how determined he was to finally become a major champion, “Yeah, I mean, I’ve become very patient not knocking off any wins in the last couple years,” Schauffele said. “The people closest to me know how stubborn I can be. Winning, I said earlier, is a result. This is awesome.  It’s super sweet. But when I break it down, I’m really proud of how I handled certain moments on the course today, different from the past.”

“I really did not want to go into a playoff with Bryson. Going up 18 with his length, it’s not something that I was going to have a whole lot of fun with.”

No playoff was needed. The drama ended the way it should. As scheduled.

After a 62 at Valhalla, Schauffele says, “It’s just Thursday”

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Just Thursday. That was the reminder, the warning, if you will, from the man whose golf was just remarkable.

Just Thursday, but whatever day of the week it was becomes irrelevant after the sort of record round posted by Xander Schauffele, on day one of the PGA Championship.

The old saying echoed for years by golfers of any age is you can’t win a tournament in the first round but you can lose it. For sure Schauffele didn’t lose it.

And he certainly put himself in a beautiful position to win it.

Indeed there are three days remaining in this second major of the year, and the weather, beautiful Thursday, is forecast to turn wet and miserable, and Rory McIlroy and Brooks Koepka are only miniscule distances behind.

Still, Schauffele shot a 9-under par 62 on that course named for a mythological place of Norse warriors, Valhalla, where former champions include McIlroy and Tiger Woods.

“It’s a great start to a big tournament,” Schauffele said. “One I am obviously going to take. But it’s just Thursday, that’s about it.”

Not quite. Not when a few days ago, last Sunday to be specific, the 30-year-old Schauffele entered the Wells Fargo at Quail Hollow, and was blown away by McIlroy and ended up sighing, “When (Rory’s) on, he’s on. Hats off to him for winning. He played unbelievably well.”

As did Schauffele even though as he pointed out it might have been just Thursday.

The golfers are stronger these days, and more aggressive. The kids grow up watching The Golf Channel and ESPN. And playing in college competitions at places like Pinehurst. Numbers don’t intimidate them… Neither do absurdly long par-fives.

A 62 in a major?  Rickie Fowler did it in last year’s U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club. So did Schauffele.

Asked one of those nonsensical questions about how he would compare the 62’s, Schauffele said, “I don't know. I can't nitpick. I'll take a 62 in any major any day.”

His German-born father, Stefan, was an Olympic decathlon hopeful until a drunken driver crashed into his car which cost him an eye. An aerospace engineer, Stefan settled in the San Diego area where Schauffele was born and grew up. As everyone down there does, he surfed. Under Stefan’s coaching, Xander developed in golf, after high school enrolling at Long Beach State, then transferring to San Diego State.

He took the men’s golf gold medal in the 2016 Tokyo Olympics, yet he’s never finished higher than second in any major. Thus did that 62 at the PGA create possibility. And pressure.   

 “Yeah, I think not winning makes you want to win more, as weird as that is. For me, at least, I react to it, and I want it more and more and more, and it makes me want to work harder and harder and harder.”