Xander Schauffele finally broke through. What makes the difference?

The past 12 months have had it all – winning streaks, big new tournaments, big week arrests (!) and more. As 2025 approaches, our writers look back at the most memorable moments from 2024.

No. 15 – Charley Hull goes viral | No. 14 — LIV, LPGA CEO say goodbye | No. 13— Solheim Cup parking fiasco | No. 12 – Phoenix Open chaos | No. 11 – Lydia Ko’s Hall of Fame resume | No. 10 – PGA Tour/Saudi PIF merger stands | No. 9 – Keegan Bradley named Ryder Cup captain | No. 8 – Lexi Thompson left

The greatest golf moments of 2024 No. 8: Xander Schauffele takes the next step

In the hours after his son’s major championship victory, I spoke with Xander Schauffele’s father Stefan from his shipping container at home in Hawaii. He has been there every step of his son’s journey to golfing greatness, after all. What did it mean to cross the line?

“We knew it was coming,” said Stefan matter-of-factly; he was coming down the hill to claim the PGA Championship on the back nine as his son’s victories piled up. “In our minds – I think I can speak for him there – there was never a moment of doubt about that. I mean, look how you agree. This just happened.”

Okay, but how does it actually happen to hear?

“I just cried. It finally happened. Finallythat it happened,” Stefan said, the inevitability replaced by wonder. “I was just watching until he won – then I let go of the emotions. At that time I was powerless. Give me a box of Kleenex.”

There is no doubt that Scottie Scheffler became the dominant winner of the PGA Tour in 2024, that Nelly Korda did the same on the LPGA side, and that Bryson DeChambeau matched the dominance of YouTube with the victory of the US Open. But when it comes to the most old-school metric – total wins – only one player in the world has added two to his name.

Stefan Schauffele may have skipped the trip to Valhalla, but he didn’t miss the Scottish summer tour, making a mid-summer trip to Royal Troon for the Open Championship. When that, too, ended the victory, his father was very happy, moved and even More confident about his son’s future.

“You’re right there,” Stefan said, a twinkle in his eye. “I can tell [he’s] the one with the greatest career grand slam potential. What about that?”

But what was the difference? What had taken Schauffele from eternal championship contender to winner – and then winner again? There is no simple answer, and some with an analytical mind might chalk it up to luck, volatility, and the flip of a coin. This year at different points Schauffele gave his experience, his work in progress, the addition of Chris Como to his team and, as he said, sticking to the mantra that. the steady drip is hacking away at the stone. When I had the opportunity to spend time with Xander himself earlier this December, at the time, I was eager to hear him explain the benefits of a few months of hindsight.

“You never know how you’re going to react when you’re on the ground,” he said between shots at a Florida driving range. “You practice everything you have to do in the right way, the process, all these things. But I would go into some of these places and feel like there were some holes in my game. “

He cited Carnoustie as an example, returning to the 2018 Open Championship where he was tied after Sunday’s back nine and displayed what he described as misbehavior.

“The way I was swinging the club, it was difficult for me to hit a controlled cut; everything was coming off the toe, crashing to the left. And that is still my inclination now; I just have a lot to understand about it. But I would go into these places and see this pin back. I’m like, ‘Well, the whole shot is cut.’ And I’m sitting there again [I’d been] so you direct the whole tournament to try and just hit like a little draw, just short of it. And then all of a sudden, you know, I’m so good, I’ll try to hit the cut and I screw it up. And now you’re all in over your head. He’s just starting to get angry. And so a lot of that was happening to me, when I felt my game was so close, I didn’t accept what I had. I always wanted more.

“And so I think it’s like the pursuit of perfection where you want to hit all the shots at the right time in the big moments. And later you learn that it’s not all about that. ”

He didn’t make it to golf in 2024, and he won’t make it in 2025. But two weeks – two very big weeks, for that matter – got a great result. Schauffele is an excellent host. Nothing can change that now.

You can watch our full Warming Up interview below.

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