Xander Schauffele He is a player who guarantees a good result in practically any tournament he plays. At 30 years old he already has 27 participations in the majors, with 12 ‘top ten’ to his credit, but no victory. He touched it in the 2019 Masters that Tiger won, in which he was one stroke away; He was also second in the 2018 British Open. After completing the first day of the PGA Championship 2024, he has already positioned himself as a serious candidate to win the Wanamaker trophy, thanks to his historic result of 62 strokeswhich has made obsolete the field record held by José María Olaz�bal (63 hits in 2000). But this 62 equals the lowest lap ever made in a major and it is also the best signed in a PGA. What’s more, Schauffele is the first golfer ever to shoot two rounds of 62 (the other was at the 2023 US Open, like Fowler; the third 62 in history is by Branden Grace at the 2017 British Open).
“There are moments when you feel like you can control the ball very well and you are seeing the greens very well. But it is very difficult to achieve it for a long period of time and, yes, I would say that I have been very close to maintaining that performance the entire day, or almost,” commented Schauffele at the end of his round.
The one from San Diego is synonymous with consistency in a sport that rewards this virtue, although today is defined with the word perfection. Schauffele comes after having overcome 46 cuts in a row and his first round in Valhalla has been stratospheric. On a course that rewards good shots and greatly penalizes those who hit the ball into the rough, the American, second last week at Wells Fargo, sends a significant warning. He has played anthological golf and Most of his birdies (nine) were sealed in an apparently easy way because he left it very close to the flag or measured the putts perfectly.. He has done it on spectacular holes like 13 or 7. Around the green he has excelled.
Despite his great results and the solidity of his game, for some reason the Californian has never belonged to the group of players who alone make the public gather around their game. Being an Olympic champion in Tokyo gave him star status, but in golf the ‘majors’ weigh more and they oversize the perception we have of a player. This is what Schauffele is missing, a golfer who even It was difficult for him to achieve the first hole in one of his career: lo consigui� en el Tour Championship 2019 en East Lake.
Xander He has won seven PGA Tour tournaments and there are already several Sundays in which he has been in the fight for a ‘major’. He is very young and has a brilliant career ahead of him, and perhaps that is why he is unfairly mentioned among the great players who have not finished with a victory in one of the four Grand Slam tournaments. His name usually appears next to others like Steve Stricker, Rickie Fowler, Lee Westwood o Colin Montgomerybut this could be your week.
