TROON, Scotland – Harry’s Bar & Restaurant in West Palm Seashore, Florida, is a well-liked spot amongst skilled golf royalty due to its proximity to lots of the recreation’s greatest names, to not point out a life-changing beef Wellington.
Final fall, the upscale steakhouse was the place Xander Schauffele started the transformation from stable participant with a monsoon of potential to main champion, though that official metamorphosis was nonetheless seven months away. Schauffele, who was ranked sixth on the planet on the time, was 0-for-27 in Grand Slam begins and whereas he’d come near breaking by on the recreation’s greatest and finest occasions, there was one thing lacking. It was that main document that prompted Schauffele to affix swing coach Chris Como for dinner.
Schauffele had completed tied for 10th at each the Masters and the U.S. Open, and posted top-20 showings on the PGA Championship and Open Championship, however he went to Como to search out the lacking piece.
Schauffele fired a back-nine 31 en path to a two-shot victory Sunday at The Open, his second main title in three begins.
“Xander was searching for somebody to bounce concepts off of and assist him along with his recreation,” Como defined. “He was already actually good, so from my perspective how do you assist somebody like that get a little bit higher. That would imply rather a lot to a participant at that degree, nevertheless it may additionally go the incorrect approach.”
Schauffele’s swing coach had at all times been his father, Stefan, so the choice to search for solutions elsewhere was probably not simple. However with Stefan Schauffele’s blessing, he launched into a quest to search out the reply to skilled golf’s final query – How do I win majors?
Como, who has labored with lots of the recreation’s finest gamers, together with Tiger Woods and Bryson DeChambeau, took a predictably analytical strategy to the query with what he referred to as, “delicate adjustments” to Schauffele’s place on the high of his backswing in addition to a brand new transition into the downswing. The solutions got here surprisingly quick with top-10 finishes in his first three begins of 2024, nevertheless it was on the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March the place he began to see actual progress.
A runner-up displaying at The Gamers, the place he led by 54 holes however was derailed by a pair of late bogeys on Sunday, in addition to one other top-10 end on the Masters had been encouraging. Nevertheless it was on the PGA Championship the place the new-and-improved Xander emerged with a closing 65 to carry off DeChambeau with a walk-off birdie on the 72nd gap.
“The reply that we couldn’t discover, ourselves, has been answered with the assistance of Chris Como, to be honest,” Stefan Schauffele stated Sunday at a windy and moist Royal Troon. “He was in a short time in a position to reply what we, for 2 or three years, couldn’t reply. It was wrist place and a launch sample that Como has studied for a very long time and Xander and I, with our previous strategies, couldn’t discover. That freed him up tremendously.”
Como defers credit score to Schauffele, suggesting his function within the transformation to main champion was little greater than tour information.
“On the finish of the day, he was going to win majors, however having a barely higher understanding of his golf swing might be useful,” Como stated. “He’s in a position to simply swing in a approach that matches him very well and might free him up off the tee.”
It’s simple sufficient to quantify how rather more “free” Schauffele feels off the tee. His ball pace jumped from 179.30 mph final season, which ranked 34th on the PGA Tour, to 183.14 mph this yr, which is 10th on Tour; as has his strokes gained: off the tee (11th) and driving distance (37th).
At Royal Troon, which superbly mixed The Open’s longest gap (No. 6) and it’s shortest (No. 8), that formulation held with Schauffele selecting up 3.41 photographs on the sphere off the tee. However his efficiency on the yr’s remaining main was a lot greater than a driving show.
He was second in strokes gained: strategy, 15th in strokes gained: across the inexperienced and, maybe most telling, 20th in strokes gained: placing, an underappreciated power of his recreation.
“He made that lengthy birdie putt [a 16-footer at No. 13] and I texted [Schauffele’s putting coach Derek Ueyda] and stated, ‘I haven’t informed you the way a lot I like you,’” Como laughed.
Schauffele’s dominant closing 9 is a textbook instance of the way you win a significant championship. After enduring the worst of Saturday’s tempest, he pulled into the lead with birdies at Nos. 6 and seven, nevertheless it was a scorching inward 9, Royal Troon’s tough 9, that set the stage for his two-stroke victory.
Scottie Scheffler, who completed tied for seventh after a poor week on the greens, remains to be the front-runner to win the Tour’s Participant of the 12 months award, however Schauffele’s efficiency within the majors may lead some to second guess that vote. But after his journey from actually good to nice, it received’t take the Jack Nicklaus Trophy to validate his determination.
What started with a scrumptious dinner at Harry’s in South Florida has resulted in probably the most spectacular main seasons in current historical past with Schauffele accumulating two Grand Slam titles and ending inside the highest 10 within the different two. When pressed for why Como was the reply to Xander’s main query, Stefan Schauffele was fast to inform.
“He may clarify why Xander had a little bit of a free, sloppy high place at occasions,” Stefan Schauffele stated. “Xander is hyper-flexible, so am I, and that creates some tough conditions within the golf swing; over swinging, laying it off, all types of issues. Chris had the reply.”
But when Como supplied the roadmap, wealthy with information and quantifiable theories, it was Xander Schauffele who took the teachings and made them legend. He posted the round-of-the-day Sunday at The Open when a lot of the contenders had been fading, and on Saturday, when the circumstances had been most hyperlinks, he posted an exceedingly uncommon under-par spherical (69).
“I’ve form of embraced this kind of SoCal, laid-back child, however there’s clearly a fireplace burning deep inside, otherwise you wouldn’t have a pair majors sitting by your aspect,” Schauffele stated as he glanced on the claret jug.
As Schauffele posed for footage along with his new and historic prize, his father watched from simply off the 18th inexperienced. Stefan Schauffele wasn’t at Valhalla when his son received the PGA Championship, and it was apparent he wished to savor the second.
“In all sports activities, that’s the coolest trophy on earth. I imply they’re not even hiding the truth that we’re going to drink tonight. It’s no secret what we’re going to drink out of it tonight,” Stefan Schauffele laughed, earlier than being requested what he deliberate to drink from the famed jug, “Wine, I might suppose. Or if not [he pulled a flask from his pocket], sláinte.”
