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Xander SchauffeleAmerican professional golfer
Date of Birth: 25.10.1993
Country:  USA |
Content:
- Alexander Schauffele: A Rising Star in Golf
- Professional Career
- 2016 Web.com Tour
- 2016–17 PGA Tour: Two Wins, Rookie of the Year
- European Tour 2018
- 2018–19 PGA Tour: 2 Wins; Presidents Cup
Alexander Schauffele: A Rising Star in Golf
Early Life and Amateur CareerAlexander Victor Schauffele, an American professional golfer, was born on October 25, 1993, in San Diego, California. His father, a naturalized immigrant from Germany, was his sole swing coach throughout his golf career. Schauffele's philosophy is heavily based on the fundamental principles of ball flight and golf club mechanics. As a result, he did not see his own swing until he was approximately 18 years old.
Schauffele's paternal great-grandfathers were both high-level European football players. Johann Hoffmann played for the Austrian national team and won multiple national titles with clubs in Austria (SK Rapid Wien), Czech Republic (DSV Saaz), and France (FC Sochaux; Racing Strasbourg). After playing football for VfB Stuttgart, Richard Schauffele excelled in track and field, capturing over 40 titles in discus, javelin, and shot put for 2 clubs, Stuttgarter Kickers and Cannstatter Ruder-Club.
In his amateur career, Schauffele was the individual winner of the 2011 California State High School Championship (CIF Southern Section) while playing for Scripps Ranch High School. Upon graduating high school, Schauffele played his freshman year of college at Long Beach State University, where he earned the 2012 Big West Conference Freshman of the Year award as well as First Team All-Big West honors. Before his sophomore year, Schauffele transferred to San Diego State University, where he eventually finished his collegiate career and graduated in 2015.
During his three years at SDSU, Schauffele was a three-time Ping and Golfweek Honorable Mention All-American. He earned Mountain West Conference All-Academic Team Award honors twice. At SDSU, he holds the school record for the lowest career tournament score against par (-17); career scoring average (71.50); and single-season records for par-5 performance (4.5135); birdies made (171); and eagles made (9). 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 in the final again at the Beverly Country Club in Chicago for the 2014 Western Amateur, where Schauffele suffered a dramatic loss to Hossler in the championship match.
Schauffele amassed a college record of 3 victories, 4 runner-up finishes, 19 top-five finishes, and 27 top-10 finishes in 50 total tournaments. He entered professional play in 2015, ranked within the top 10 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings.
Professional Career
Web.com TourAfter turning professional in June 2015, Schauffele went on to compete in the 2015 Web.com Tour Qualifying Tournament in the fall. He placed second at the Stage One qualifier at Southern Dunes GC in Maricopa, Arizona. He won the Stage Two qualifier at Oak Valley GC in Beaumont, California, and eventually earned his Web.com Tour card through the Finals in Florida, finishing in a tie for 45th.
2016 Web.com Tour
In 2016, Schauffele played a full season (23 tournaments) on the Web.com Tour. He finished 26th on the regular-season money list, missing a 2017 PGA Tour card by less than $1,000.00, but went on to earn a card through the Web.com Tour Finals, finishing 15th on the Finals money list (excluding 25 players who earned regular-season PGA Tour cards).
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 6-under-par 66. It marked the first time in U.S. Open history that a player had shot a round without a bogey and scored 66 or better in their championship debut. Additionally, Schauffele is one of only 15 players to ever shoot 10-under-par in a U.S. Open. Following his opening 66, he shot rounds of 73-70-69 to finish in a tie for fifth, earning him an exemption into the 2018 U.S. Open.
Just three weeks later, on July 9, 2017, Schauffele recorded his first PGA Tour win at the Greenbrier Classic. He started the final round three strokes behind the leader, Sebastian Munoz, who had led since the first round. Schauffele shot a 3-under-par 67 that included two birdies on his last three holes to win by one stroke over Robert Streb. The victory earned him exemptions into the Open Championship through the Open Qualifying Series, the PGA Championship, and the 2018 Masters Tournament.
Schauffele began the 2017 FedEx Cup playoffs in 33rd place in the standings. Entering the third and penultimate playoff event, the 2017 BMW Championship, he stood in 32nd place and needed to gain at least two spots to qualify for the 2017 Tour Championship. Schauffele played the tournament's final six holes at 6-under-par with a finish of birdie-birdie-eagle-birdie-par-birdie and moved up 26 spots to 6th place.
At the 2017 Tour Championship, Schauffele birdied the 72nd hole to win the tournament by one stroke over Justin Thomas, becoming the first rookie to win the Tour Championship. Schauffele's victory also marked the first time that a rookie had won a FedEx Cup Playoff event.
European Tour 2018
Schauffele joined the 2018 European Tour as an affiliate member. After winning the 2018 WGC-HSBC Champions, Schauffele rose to 4th place in the European Tour Order of Merit, the annual points-based race to the European Tour's Race to Dubai. Schauffele entered the European Tour season finale, the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai, in 5th place. With a final-round score of 6-under-par 66, tied for the lowest score of the day, Schauffele finished T16. This secured a season-ending finish of 4th in the Race to Dubai and a share of the 2018 European Tour Bonus Pool money.
2018–19 PGA Tour: 2 Wins; Presidents Cup
On October 28, 2018, Schauffele won the WGC-HSBC Champions tournament in Shanghai, China, at Sheshan Golf Club. Schauffele won on the first hole of a playoff (number 18), defeating Tony Finau.
On January 6, 2019, Schauffele won the Sentry Tournament of Champions at the Plantation Course at Kapalua Resort on Maui, Hawaii. In the final round, he shot an 11-under-par 62 and overtook Gary Woodland, who held a 5-shot lead over Schauffele entering the final round. Schauffele's final-round 62 was a course record at The Plantation Course. He is tied with K. J. Choi (2003), Graeme McDowell (2011), Chris Kirk (2015), and Jason Day (2015).
On April 14, Schauffele finished second at the Masters Tournament, one stroke behind champion Tiger Woods. After opening with a 1-over 73, he 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 was his third top-five finish in eight major championship starts (T5 at 2017 U.S. Open, T2 at 2018 Open Championship, T2 at 2019 Masters Tournament). He led the field with 25 birdies, becoming only the third player since 1980 to have 25 or more birdies in a single Masters Tournament, joining Phil Mickelson (25 in 2001) and Jordan Spieth (28 in 2015).
On June 16, 2019, Schauffele finished third at the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach Golf Links in Pebble Beach, California.
In early August 2019, Schauffele finished in a four-way tie for tenth at the 2019 Wyndham Rewards Top 10, thus entering the 2019 playoffs ranked 4th in the FedEx Cup standings. Under the 2019 playoff format revisions, Schauffele found himself 8th after the first two of three playoff events and arrived at East Lake Golf Club for the 2019 Tour Championship with a 6-stroke deficit and initial positioning behind leader Justin Thomas. Schauffele was able to erase the deficit after the first round with a 6-under-par 64 and took over the
