Two videos of an alleged incident between Scottie Scheffler and Louisville Metro Police detective Bryan Gillis were released on Thursday afternoon, Kentucky time.

After a press conference with Louisville mayor Craig Greenberg and Louisville Metro Police chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel, the LMPD posted the only known footage of Scheffler’s arrest outside Valhalla Golf Club last Friday ahead of the second round of the PGA Championship. Both Greenberg and Gwinn-Villaroel have acknowledged that Gillis did not have his body camera activated during his encounter with Scheffler, which violates LMPD policy.

In the first video, which runs for about 55 minutes, Scheffler can be seen in handcuffs about the 42:31 mark.

In the second video, it appears Gillis is running towards Scheffler’s car:

Scheffler was charged with second-degree assault of a police officer, criminal mischief and reckless driving. Scheffler is alleged to have driven past a police officer against the officer’s instructions while trying to enter the club. Scheffler called the incident a misunderstanding, although a police report states that Gillis was dragged by Scheffler’s car, which led to injury and damage of Gillis’ pants. Scheffler’s lawyer Steve Romines has disputed the nature of the incident.

Scheffler’s arraignment was originally scheduled for Tuesday, but was pushed back to June 3. Romines has told multiple news outlets that Scheffler will enter a not guilty plea. “Our position remains the same,” Romines said after Thursday’s press conference. “It will either be dismissed or will go to trial. We’re not interested in settling.”

The post Videos of Scottie Scheffler’s arrest released by Louisville police appeared first on Australian Golf Digest.

[PHOTO: Ross Kinnaird]

In a press conference on Thursday morning (Kentucky time), Louisville’s mayor and chief of police stated the officer who made the arrest of Scottie Scheffler during the PGA Championship has been disciplined for failing to turn on his body camera, but that, at this time, the charges against Scheffler have not been dropped.

Louisville mayor Craig Greenberg acknowledged that detective Bryan Gillis didn’t have his body camera activated during last Friday’s incident. According to Louisville Metro Police policy, officers must turn on their body cameras before “engaging in all law enforcement activities and encounters”. Though there is video footage from a police cruiser’s dashboard as well as from a pole across the street from Valhalla, Greenberg asserted that video of the actual incident does not exist. The LMPD released both of those videos shortly after the conclusion of the press conference. Greenberg stated that, per request of the Louisville attorney’s office, any other video will not be released until the conclusion of the legal progress.

“Regarding the results of our internal investigation, Detective Gillis had an encounter with Mr Scottie Scheffler. Mr Gillis should have turned on his body camera, but he did not,” Greenberg said. “It was a failure of policy.”

Scottie Scheffler Arrest: Awkward, surreal scenes greeted Scheffler in return after arrest

According to Louisville Metro police chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel, Gillis violated two internal policies for failing to have his body camera activated. The discipline for these missteps involves marks on Gillis’ record with the department.

However, both Greenberg and Gwinn-Villaroel said they “respect the judicial process” and will let the process play out. Meaning, the charges against Scheffler, at this time, remain.

Scheffler was arrested on Friday morning outside Valhalla Golf Club ahead of the second round of the 2024 PGA Championship and charged with second-degree assault of a police officer, criminal mischief and reckless driving. Scheffler is alleged to have driven past a police officer against the officer’s instructions while trying to enter the club. Scheffler called the incident a misunderstanding, although a police report states that Gillis was dragged by Scheffler’s car, which led to injury and damage of Gillis’ pants. Scheffler’s lawyer Steve Romines has disputed the nature of the incident.

“[Scheffler] was proceeding as directed by another traffic officer and driving a marked player’s vehicle with credentials visible,” Romines said. “In the confusion, Scottie is alleged to have disregarded a different officer’s traffic signals resulting in these charges. Multiple eyewitnesses have confirmed that he did not do anything wrong but was simply proceeding as directed. He stopped immediately upon being directed to and never at any point assaulted any officer with his vehicle. We will litigate this matter as needed and he will be completely exonerated.”

Scheffler’s arraignment was originally scheduled for Tuesday, but was pushed back to June 3. Romines has told multiple news outlets that Scheffler will enter a not guilty plea.

Scheffler returned to Valhalla after his arrest and turned in a second-round 66, although followed it with a 73 while admitting the chaotic situation had worn him down. Scheffler bounced back with a final-round 65, ultimately finishing in a tie for eighth. He is currently playing in this week’s PGA Tour event at Colonial.

The post Scottie Scheffler charges will not be dropped; arresting officer disciplined for policy violation appeared first on Australian Golf Digest.

World No.2 Xander Schauffele secured his maiden major victory and eighth PGA Tour title after a hard-fought victory at the PGA Championship. He opened his week with a stunning 62 to become the first golfer to shoot the lowest 18-hole score twice in major-championship history, while his 21-under-par winning total was also the lowest in major history. This is his blog from Valhalla Golf Club. 

[PHOTOS: Getty Images]

I’m a big believer of getting the right foundation, the right people and team around you. I believe if you put in the hard work and you let yourself do what you think you can do, you’re going to enjoy the fruits of your labour. I’ve felt like I’ve been on this sort of trending path for quite some time. I really had to stay patient and keep the self-belief up, and I was able to do both those things. 

It feels amazing to win a major championship. Just a wide range of emotions for me, and it’s a very satisfying win, no doubt. I really can’t wait to celebrate with my family and team. They’ve been the most concrete thing that I have. They’re steadfast, they keep me in line.

I was kind of emotional after the last putt lipped in. It’s been a while since I’ve won, and as I kept saying all week, I just needed to stay in my lane. Man, was it hard to stay in my lane during the final round, but I tried all day to keep my focus.

Xander Schauffele with his uncle Gao Ya Chen [far left], brother Nico [second from left] and wife Maya [far right].

The people closest to me know how stubborn I can be, but I’ve remained very patient not having won in the past couple of years. Winning, I said it earlier, is a result. This victory is awesome and it’s super-sweet. And when I break it down, I’m really proud of how I handled certain moments on the golf course, which may have been different from the past. 

Walking up to the 18th green, I was pretty nervous. I saw a little left-to-right for the birdie putt. I kept reading it, kept kind of panning and it started to look right-to-left to me and I thought, Oh, my gosh, this is not what I want for a winning putt. Fortunately, it was uphill, it was six feet or so, and I ended up playing it straight. It did go left, and it caught the left side. Just so much relief when it lipped in. I don’t really remember it going in as I just heard everyone roaring and I looked up to the sky in relief. I kept telling myself I need to earn this, I need to prove this to myself, and this is my time. Once I sat down in scoring hut, it was just a whirlwind of emotions.

For all those close misses in the past, I don’t think I’d ever look at it as lacking. I looked at it as someone that is trying really hard and needed more experience. All those close calls for me, even when I finished runner-up at the Wells Fargo Championship last week, that sort of feeling, it gets to you at some point. It just makes this win even sweeter. I know it’s a major, but just winning in general, this is as sweet as it gets for me. 

This win is for my team. My uncle is my agent, and he’s been with me from the beginning of the year. My brother, Nico, cooks for me. Although he’s not a professional cook, he can make some tasty food, so he’s been willing to help me. Hopefully, he stays out with me a little bit longer as he just got engaged. My wife, Maya, she’s sort of the rock in my life. She’s a constant for me. They all make me feel very special, and I’m just happy to win this one for my team. 

My mum, Ping Yi, was back at home in San Diego and my dad, Stefan, was in Hawaii and I was able to call him before the trophy presentation. I had to hang up pretty quickly because he started to make me cry. It made me pretty emotional. My dad crept into my mind during an interview after the third round. I said, “I’m going to have to sneak back to that ‘Commit, execute, accept’ mantra, as that’s something he’s engrained in me since I was about 9 years old.” He has been my swing coach and my mentor my entire life, and his goal really was to – just like any good dad would want – set your kid up for a successful future.

Schauffele on the phone to his father, Stefan, who was in Hawaii at the time of the PGA’s thrilling climax.

He sent me positive texts throughout the week. On Saturday night, he texted me a saying, “A steady drip breaks the stone,” in German! I had to ask him what the translation was. There’s been some famous German philosophers, and my dad, he was a bit of a reader growing up. I’m sure that’s where he got a lot of them from. He’s definitely put them in my brain. Now that I’m working with swing coach Chris Como, my dad feels like he can kind of take his hands off the wheel. He trusts Chris a lot, I trust him a lot. He’s given me so much confidence in my ball-striking ability, unlocking a few pieces to it.

I always believe in positive self-talk. I will tell myself, I’ll speak to myself. I just kept doing it. When you believe something enough, it’ll happen. I stayed very patient all day and I was looking up at the leaderboard. There were times previously when I tried to look away from it until the back nine, but in the final round, I was looking at it. I wanted to know exactly where I stood. I wanted to address my feelings when they were happening.

Making those two birdies on 11 and 12 was tremendous after I had made bogey on 10. I just kept fighting and I finally made those putts. It was my moment, and I was able to capitalise on some good iron shots coming in. In those moments, you can kind of feel it, and in the past when I didn’t do it, it just wasn’t there, and in the final round, I could feel that it was there. 

All of us are climbing this massive mountain. At the top of the mountain is Scottie Scheffler [the world No.1]. I won this, but I’m still not that close to Scottie in the big scheme of things. I got one good hook up there in the mountain, up on that cliff, and I’m still climbing. I might have a beer up there on that side of the hill there and enjoy this.

Note: Fans can watch Xander Schauffele and many of the world’s best golfers on the PGA Tour on Kayo.

MORE GOLF DIGEST PGA CHAMPIONSHIP COVERAGE

The post Player Blog: Xander Schauffele appeared first on Australian Golf Digest.

[PHOTO: Ben Jared]

The officers who arrested Scottie Scheffler will be investigated to see if they followed protocol, according to Louisville’s mayor.

After Scheffler’s arrest at the PGA Championship, Mayor Craig Greenberg acknowledged that detective Bryan Gillis didn’t have his body camera activated during the incident. According to Louisville Metro Police policy, officers must turn on their body cameras before “engaging in all law enforcement activities and encounters”. At a weekly press conference in Kentucky on Tuesday, Greenberg said questions remain on why Gillis didn’t have the camera on.

“I think that’s critically important that we do that [investigate], not just in high-profile events like took place on Friday, but on a regular basis,” Greenberg said. “And if policies are not being followed, there will be transparency about that. There will be action taken.”

Greenberg added that Louisville Metro Police chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel would address the matter later in the week, including if the Professional Standards Unit investigation – Louisville’s internal affairs arm tasked with investigating policy breaches – will be involved. “The internal investigation is still ongoing,” Gwinn-Villaroel said in a statement. “Any policy violations that are revealed through the course of the investigation will be appropriately addressed according to LMPD’s disciplinary protocol.”

Scheffler’s arraignment was originally scheduled for today, US time, but was pushed back until June 3. Scheffler’s attorney Steve Romines has told multiple news outlets that Scheffler will enter a not guilty plea.

Video of Scottie Scheffler’s lawyer and the county prosecutor arguing about a court date is the golf drama we didn’t know we needed

Scheffler was arrested on Friday morning outside Valhalla Golf Club ahead of the second round of the PGA Championship and charged with second-degree assault of a police officer, criminal mischief and reckless driving. Scheffler is alleged to have driven past a police officer against the officer’s instructions while trying to enter the club. Scheffler called the incident a misunderstanding, although a police report states that Gillis was dragged by Scheffler’s car, which led to injury and damage of Gillis’ pants. Scheffler’s lawyer disputed the nature of the incident.

“[Scheffler] was proceeding as directed by another traffic officer and driving a marked player’s vehicle with credentials visible,” Romines said. “In the confusion, Scottie is alleged to have disregarded a different officer’s traffic signals resulting in these charges. Multiple eyewitnesses have confirmed that he did not do anything wrong but was simply proceeding as directed. He stopped immediately upon being directed to and never at any point assaulted any officer with his vehicle. We will litigate this matter as needed and he will be completely exonerated.”

Scheffler returned to Valhalla after his arrest and turned in a second-round 66, although he followed that with a 73 while admitting the chaotic situation had worn him down. Scheffler bounced back with a final-round 65, ultimately finishing in a tie for eighth.

The post Scottie Scheffler arrest will be investigated for policy violations, according to mayor appeared first on Australian Golf Digest.

What kind of golf is best for major championships?

It’s not a new question, although it wasn’t that long ago that a fitting answer would have been, “Well, isn’t it obvious?!?” But with Xander Schauffele shattering the 72-hole scoring records at a major in a thrilling finish at Valhalla, things have become more interesting. There are more elements at play in golf’s current ecosystem, and perhaps a reconsideration is in order.

Traditionally, fast-and-firm conditions – with a steady breeze as a bonus – have been the sought-after ideal for major championships. Setups that make par a valued score, and present a challenge designed to reward the most complete player. The principles the USGA has incorporated with the US Open, which has always prided itself on being the toughest major, was built on.

Of course, since switching the PGA Championship from matchplay to strokeplay in 1958, the PGA of America has employed a softer approach to set-ups at its signature event could be described as US Open-lite. The higher rate of birdies and low scores, once looked on as a reason the PGA unofficially ranks fourth in prestige among the majors, could become a positive in golf’s changing landscape. It all depends on what the beholder values. Here’s the case for each.

When a championship course plays fast and firm, it becomes more difficult to control where the ball ends up. Off the tee, the increased bounce and roll of ball can more easily send it off the fairway and into trouble. That affords those players who can bend their drives to best fit each hole a way to find more short grass.

On approach shots, a firm green makes it more difficult to stop the ball in the intended spot. Hitting the proper landing area is vital, and a player’s ability to properly shape an iron shot can result in using the contours of a firm green to his advantage. The tighter turf also puts a premium on a solid strike. Mishits will generally result in a shot that does not hold, or lands in a place that takes if further away from the hole.

Especially around a firm green, the highest degree of contact, variety and finesse is required on chips and pitches to keep saving par. Putting requires more touch and nerve on faster surfaces, especially those with undulation, as second putts tend to be longer and three-putting a constant fear.

PGA Championship 2024: How Xander Schauffele’s hard-luck losses ultimately led to the major title he desperately craved

Simply, faster and firmer setups demand more good golf. On occasion, both the USGA and the R&A have tried too hard to ensure that demand in their championships and pushed some setups into unfairness. But even on their fairest setups, the imposed difficulty can dictate defensive play, where avoiding bogeys is more important than trying for birdies. It’s how Ben Hogan and Jack Nicklaus each won four US Opens. But to some tastes, and maybe a number that’s increasing, it’s too much of a slog.

Especially at the PGA among the majors, when a course design is relatively easy, or the weather turns wet, the already more permissive setup becomes noticeably vulnerable. In general, with less roll, fairways become effectively wider, and the demand to work the ball in different directions is lessened or eliminated. With more margin for error, the emphasis moves from cautious accuracy to maximised carry.

Similarly, into softer or more receptive greens, hitting straight shots at the pin carries less risk than into a fast and firm green. It’s an almost exclusively aerial game, with little concern for what the ball will do after it lands, other than perhaps spin back too much. The result is more shots landing and staying close to the pin. Balls that miss the green do not bounce as far away, so short-game recovery is easier. And on slower greens, bolder putting is easier to summon. It all promotes offensive golf, producing more birdies and fewer bogeys, and lower scores.

Valhalla, more than any recent major, had these conditions. When it was assaulted by the modern power game, it surrendered the lowest total and under-par winning score in major-championship history, and very nearly the first major-championship 61 (by Shane Lowry). According to stats guru Justin Ray, Valhalla produced the lowest combined score by the field in a major – 214-under-par – shattering the previous low of 40-over-par at the 1995 PGA at Riviera. We’ll do the maths for you: that’s 255 shots lower.

There’s not much question that fast and firm asks for higher quality golf. It places a greater demand on skill, nerve and temperament. The most revered major-championship performances in history have been achieved in fast-and-firm conditions.

But the question remains, are the higher scores and more conservative strategy what today’s golf fans want to see and today’s players want to play? Is it the best golf for major championships? Because there are some advantages to softer conditions. With the skill demands on players lessened, more of them can handle the test at hand, causing fields to stay more closely bunched. That often leads to more players in contention on the final day, increasing the chance of a crowded stretch run and a more thrilling finish.

On a softer setup, especially one softened by rain like Valhalla was, such virtuosity is more readily attained. With an increased margin for error, players were freed up to try more full-bore shots at the very limits of their athletic talent, exemplified by Bryson DeChambeau’s 220-yard 8-iron approach to three feet on the 70th hole followed by a 196mph ball-speed tee shot on the 71st. And the moments were intensified because DeChambeau was in a dog fight with Schauffele and Viktor Hovland.

So it was at Valhalla, a style that can be celebrated as exceptional entertainment, or dumbed down tournament golf. The casual and new fan to the game is more likely to see it as the former, the purist/traditionalist, who until recently has held sway, might lean towards the latter. But there isn’t much disagreement about which way the pendulum is moving.

With the current fracture in professional golf, the term “product” is now routinely used to describe the PGA Tour and even the major championships. The commercial urgencies have made it depressingly necessary to reduce the highest level of the game to another striving competitor in the entertainment business. It always has been, of course, but the sheer mastery required to shoot the lowest score was considered entertainment enough. But I fear that the need to hype a suddenly insecure pro game means that setups, even at the majors, will bow to the attention seemingly paid to distance and easy birdies.

Or maybe this is just an aficionado’s precious argument about aesthetics. What happened at Valhalla doesn’t have to be a signal of decadence. Regardless of the style of play allowed, the best golfers in the world were still trying to shoot the lowest scores possible. And by the way, in the end Schauffele still had to go old-school, closing with a nervy pitch and a gutted-out six-footer.

In the words of the legendary Charles Price: “Ordinary golf… is like walking a tightrope when it’s just off the ground. Tournament golf is when they raise the rope to 60 feet. Championship golf is when they take the net away.”

Valhalla had a net. Give me more artistry and skill – more Scottie Scheffler. Golf, at the very highest level, has more of it than any other sport. Which is the best claim it has to being the greatest game of all.

The post Why an ‘exciting’ major and a ‘good’ major are two different things appeared first on Australian Golf Digest.

[PHOTO: Michael Reaves]

In some ways, Xander Schauffele is golf’s man of mystery. Though we’ve become accustomed to him contending on the PGA Tour, he isn’t big on social media and hasn’t had his story shared as often as golf’s other elite stars. That will likely change after the 30-year-old’s career-defining victory, fending off Bryson DeChambeau to win the 2024 PGA Championship at Valhalla.

We often hear snippets about Schauffele – like Jordan Spieth calling him the funniest player in the Ryder Cup locker room – but it’s likely fans don’t know the full backstory on one of golf’s biggest stars. Here are 15 of the most important things to know about the 2024 PGA champion.

1. Xander’s father, Stefan, grew up in Germany, and was an aspiring Olympian – but his dreams were cut short after a serious car crash when he was 20.

A decathlete on the German national team, Stefan was on the way to Olympic training when his car was struck by a drunk driver, causing a number of injuries that included the loss of sight in his left eye when his windshield shattered.

He spent two years in and out of hospitals but the sight in his eye never returned.

“It was a rough time,” Stefan told our Tod Leonard in 2019. “There was some depression and alcoholism. That’s what led me to moving to America.”

2. Xander’s parents, Stefan and Ping-Yi, met at San Diego’s Alliant International University.

Ping-Yi was born in Taiwan but raised in Japan and met Stefan, who moved to San Diego from Germany. Even though Ping-Yi didn’t speak English, the two hit it off. They got married three months after meeting.

PGA Championship 2024: On an island thousands of kilometres away, Stefan Schauffele bawled after his son’s breakthrough win

3. Xander played a number of sports growing up, but he was best at soccer.

By 6 years of age, the San Diego resident could volley a soccer ball with both feet. He was a defensive sweeper on his club team but always wanted to play forward. “The takeaway from soccer is that I hated losing,” Xander says. “The team aspect was fun, hanging out with other kids, but we’d lose and it would just piss me off more than I thought it would.”

When a 12-year-old Xander was fed up about not getting enough attacking opportunities on his soccer team, he had a fight with his coach and quit.

That’s all Stefan needed to turn Xander’s attention to golf: “I’m not kidding you,” Stefan said in 2019, “the next day, this is exactly what I said: ‘Let’s get you on the PGA Tour. Let’s go.'”

4. His father introduced him to golf at age 9.

No longer able to play soccer, squash, ski or continue his track-and-field career, Stefan took up golf in San Diego – and became so proficient that he was an assistant pro in Kauai, Hawaii, where he and Ping-Yi lived before Xander was born.

Stefan joined Bernardo Heights Country Club so he could play with his sons, Xander and Nico. To help him develop power, Stefan gave Xander an unusual drill as a kid.

As he told our Ron Kaspriske in 2018:

“When I was a kid, my dad would give me a hammer and tell me to drive a nail into a wooden block with a single strike. To do that, I had to swing the hammer fast but also deliver that power into the back of the nail at just the right moment, or I’d do some damage – to my hand or the block. I learned to hold back the speed until the last moment. Think about doing the same when you swing your driver into the ball.”

Little Xander has been waiting for this. pic.twitter.com/au91pKKnX0

— Golf Digest (@GolfDigest) May 20, 2024

5. Schauffele spent one year at Long Beach State Univeresity before transferring to San Diego State, where he’d complete his collegiate career.

Schauffele’s remarkable consistency was on display in college: in three years at San Diego State, he recorded 22 top-10 finishes and earned two wins. And in his freshman year at LBSU, he had five top-10s in 11 starts.

PGATour.com’s Sean Martin shared the below story about Xander’s coach at LBSU, Ryan Ressa, pairing Xander against his future good mate and world No. 1-ranked amateur Patrick Cantlay.

Xander Schauffele started his college career at Long Beach State. When LBSU got paired with UCLA at a tournament, Xander's coach put him in the same group as Patrick Cantlay so he could see what the No. 1 amateur in the world looked like.

Xander shot 78 to Cantlay's 63.

What…

— Sean Martin (@PGATOURSMartin) May 19, 2024

6. Schauffele’s caddie, Austin Kaiser, was a college teammate of his at San Diego State.

Kaiser and Schauffele have been together since the PGA champion’s rookie year in 2017. Kaiser told a story on Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz’s podcast about how he got really drunk after Schauffele missed the cut at the 2016 AT&T Byron Nelson – and Schauffele came and picked Kaiser up after he was doing snow angels in the mud in a cemetery at 2:30am.

“Xander wanted to wake up and practice at 7am… I’m literally hugging a tree blacked out, and then Xander, being the good friend that he is, says ‘OK, I’ll find him, send me the screenshot of where he’s at,’” Kaiser told the Subpar podcast, recalling a conversation between Schauffele and Kaiser’s wife.

“That was probably the time I thought I was going to get fired.”

Fast forward eight years later, and the duo have teamed up for eight PGA Tour victories.

Xander on Zen

7. Despite his accomplished amateur career, it’s been a while since Schauffele played blade irons.

Schauffele uses Callaway Apex TCB irons, which have a classic look, but feature tungsten weighting for adding forgiveness.

“When I was 13 to 15 years old, I played blades and I quickly learned they were not good for me,” Schauffele told Golf Digest when he first put the irons in play. “No reason to make the game harder.”

8. Schauffele met his wife, Maya Lowe, during college.

Maya attended the UC-San Diego, studying public health. The two met while both attending college in San Diego. They got married in Las Vegas in 2021. They have two bulldogs, Chewie and Momo.

“I love French and English bulldogs. I think they are hilarious and adorable,” Xander told Golf Digest’s E. Michael Johnson.

9. In his first season on the Korn Ferry Tour (then the Web.com Tour), Schauffele missed out on a PGA Tour card by less than $US1,000.

After his collegiate season, Schauffele earned his Web.com Tour card through qualifying school – finishing second in first stage and first in second stage. But in his first season (2016), he finished 26th on the moneylist, but he played his way to a PGA Tour card through the Web.com Playoffs.

10. Schauffele had quite the first season on the PGA Tour.

The San Diegan was an obvious choice for 2017 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year after winning the Greenbrier Classic, finishing fifth at the US Open at Erin Hills and becoming the first rookie to win the Tour Championship in the FedEx Cup era.

11. Known for his close calls, Schauffele has been a prolific top finisher.

After his PGA Championship victory, Schauffele’s career earnings rose to just shy of $US50 million with an amazing 59 top-10 finishes and 14 runner-ups in only 175 PGA Tour events.

12. An Olympic gold medal was extra special for Schauffele.

Considering his father’s dreams of competing in the Olympics, and the 2020 Summer Olympics taking place in his mother’s native Japan, winning at Kasumigaseki Country Club was extra special.

“To have my dad here as well is really special,” Schauffele said. “I gave him a hug off the back of the green there. I know this means a lot to him, so I’m just happy to sort of deliver this.”

13. Yes, Schauffele–Cantlay have become best friends in addition to being a formidable duo at Ryder Cups and Presidents Cups.

The California kids and their wives holiday together and, on the course, they are lethal. They’ve become a prolific team in the past four US Ryder Cups and Presidents Cups, and they also won the 2022 Zurich Classic. Of course, they were known as two of the best players in the world without a major until Schauffele’s PGA victory.

14. Working with Chris Como has helped Schauffele pick up considerable distance.

Schauffele ranks seventh on tour this season in Strokes Gained/Off The Tee (gaining 0.796 strokes per round), compared to last season when he ranked 43rd. He has also picked up three miles per hour of clubhead speed since last year.

Despite his father being his only real swing coach previously, Schauffele has seen immediate dividends from working with Como.

“This is probably the most comfortable I’ve felt with some of the changes that Chris was able to implement,” Schauffele said at Valhalla. “They weren’t big changes, just getting the club a little bit more on plane up top was key. Shoulders maybe a little bit steeper. I tend to go a little bit flat and a little laid off.”

15. Schauffele cemented himself in the history books with his win at Valhalla.

Not only did Schauffele record the lowest winning score for a major champion with his 21-under total at the 2024 PGA Championship, but Schauffele became the first player in history to shoot two rounds of 62 in majors after an opening-round nine-under, matching his 62 at the 2023 US Open at Los Angeles Country Club.

The post 15 things you might not know about Xander Schauffele appeared first on Australian Golf Digest.

Bryson DeChambeau dazzled the fans at Valhalla on PGA Championship Sunday on his way to finishing runner-up. But he also had a run-in with one of them in the middle of his final round. And for good reason.

A video captured by a fan shows that as DeChambeau made the turn and headed to the back nine in the hunt, he tossed a golf ball to a kid in the crowd. But apparently, some older jabroni snagged it and tried to run off with it. And Bryson, rightfully, wasn’t about to let that stand.

PGA Championship 2024: Golf needs Bryson back

He stopped and headed over to the gallery rope pointing his long putter in the direction of the fan and yelling, “HEY, HEY, HEY, HEY!” Seeing what was unfolding, another fan yelled, “Give that ball back!” And then after the thief did give it back, that fan added, “Man for the people!” Have a look and listen:

Bryson DeChambeau tossed a boy his ball on his way to the 10th tee but it got intercepted by an older man… Bryson yelled at the man until he retuned it to the boy #PGAChampionship

pic.twitter.com/40zg87fvzy

— NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) May 20, 2024

Pretty heroic from Bryson – especially in the heat of battle. We’re guessing that’s the kind of fan who would knock over a child to get an autograph. Sickening behaviour.

Anyway, we’re glad to see the rightful person got that ball. And he looked pretty happy about it:

And after his round, Bryson signed a heap of autographs and even gave his hat away to a another young man:

Bryson signed every autograph after coming up just short at the PGA Championship. Classy. pic.twitter.com/Ll6XirmCEV

— Golf on CBS (@GolfonCBS) May 20, 2024

Well played, Bryson. Oh, and well played on the course as well.

MORE GOLF DIGEST PGA CHAMPIONSHIP COVERAGE

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[PHOTO: Michael Reaves]

From the moment Xander Schauffele, winner of the 2024 PGA Championship, picked up a golf club he was a chaser. Compared to some of his athletic peers, he got a late start to the game, first choosing soccer until he got disgusted with not being able to fully control the results. Unfortunately, he couldn’t play forward, back and goalie all at the same time.

As a fledgling golfer, Schauffele did not set the highly competitive junior scene in San Diego on fire. He wasn’t a factor on the national tours because his father, Stefan, considered the big-time junior circuits a “money grab” and “they make these kids feel entitled by blowing smoke up their a–”. In the same high school class as Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas, Schauffele was lightly recruited for college, first going to Long Beach State University before transferring back home to San Diego State, where he won just one tournament.

All along the way, Stefan Schauffele was there to provide constant reality checks with touches of sly motivation. “He bred an underdog mentality into me from a younger age: ‘You need to go get it, because nothing is going to be handed to you,'” Xander has said.

That attitude has served Schauffele incredibly well in his pro career, considering that, at 30, he had seven PGA Tour victories before this week and wore US colours three times in international cups. But even as he rose to be a top-five player in the world, Schauffele had to shed being the grinder and learn to lead. Too many times, and particularly in majors, he had been on the cusp of a defining breakthrough, only to see others seize the moment. Two runner-ups, a pair of thirds and 12 top-10s among 27 major starts were the proof.

The opportunity came again on Sunday in the steamy hills of Kentucky. A first-round 62 that tied the all-time record for a lowest round in a major championship set up Schauffele to hold at least a share of the lead for three rounds heading into the final-day test. The question for all who questioned Schauffele’s finishing skills was could he wrap one up? The answer came in the most convincing fashion.

Unrattled by a couple of quirky breaks on the final two holes, Schauffele rolled in a six-foot birdie putt on Valhalla’s ever-thrilling par-5 18th to shooting a closing six-under-par 65 and beat Bryson DeChambeau by one shot. DeChambeau, the 2020 US Open champion, threw everything at Schauffele, posting a 64 that included his own birdie at 18.

PGA Championship 2024: On an island thousands of kilometres away, Stefan Schauffele bawled after his son’s breakthrough win

It was the kind of pressure Schauffele endured that will no doubt make the triumph more satisfying – as will the fact that his 21-under-par 263 total at par-71 Valhalla is the lowest score ever in any major. The victory moves Schauffele to No.2 in the Official World Golf Ranking – his highest position – and also guaranteed he will be in Paris in July to try to defend the Olympic gold medal he won in Japan three years ago.

Yes, this day was more than worth the wait.

“I’ve become very patient not knocking off any wins in the past couple of years,” Schauffele said. “The people closest to me know how stubborn I can be. Winning is a result. This is awesome. It’s super-sweet.”

Only a week ago, Schauffele was stinging from a difficult final day in the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow. He led by two shots over Rory McIlroy to start the final round, but got steamrolled when the Irishman shot 65 while Schauffele could only answer with a 71. “Poor Xander, couldn’t close again,” seemed to be the general refrain.

At that point, it was close to two years since Schauffele last lifted a trophy, at the 2022 Genesis Scottish Open. Wells Fargo could have been a crushing blow to his confidence the week before a major, but Schauffele insisted he only used others’ doubts as motivation.

“Definitely a chip on the shoulder there,” he admitted. “It just is what it is at the end of the day. You guys are asking the questions, probing, and I have to sit here and answer it. It’s a lot easier to answer it with this thing (the Wanamaker Trophy) sitting next to me now, obviously.

“It’s just fuel, fuel to my fire. It always has been growing up, and it certainly was leading up to this.”

Xander’s dad, Stefan, who has been at his side for tournaments most of his career, was not at Valhalla this week, but on the island of Kauai tending to the family’s property there. But the two were in contact all week, and on Saturday night Stefan sent Xander a text with a German proverb he had dished out numerous times before. Translated, Stefan said on Sunday by phone, the phrase is, “Steady dripping caves the stone.”

“It means stick with it,” Stefan said. “Be persistent. Be tenacious. See through your course.”

Schauffele did that all week at Valhalla. He opened with that 62, becoming the first golfer to shoot that score more than once in a major, and then shot back-to-back 68s that he would admit were more grinding than artful. On Sunday, Schauffele began the day tied at the top at 15-under with two-time major winner Collin Morikawa – one of his peers who was perceived as more successful on the big stages, even if he contended on them far less than Schauffele.

“My goal was to get to 22 [under] today,” Schauffele said. “I told Austin [Keiser, his caddie] when we turned, if I could get to 22, I think someone is going to have to beat me.”

He would have gotten there if, after shooting an impressive 31 on the front, he didn’t suffer a sloppy bogey at the par-5 10th by driving into a bunker, misfiring a wood out of that sand and ultimately missing a makeable par putt.

There was damage that came with the bogey, too, as a hot-handed Viktor Hovland charged with four birdies in six holes to briefly overtake Schauffele. But an immediate response came, with Schauffele making birdies at the 11th and 12th to regain control.

“I’ve made a stupid bogey before, and I’ve hit a really good shot after that,” Schauffele said. “Today I finally made those putts. I finally had enough pace or it lipped in or whatever you want to call it; it was my moment, and I was able to capitalise on some good iron shots coming in.

“In those moments, you can kind of feel it, and in the past when I didn’t do it, it just wasn’t there, and today I could feel that it was there.”

Schauffele wouldn’t relinquish the lead, but as he was making a good scrambling par at 17 after his ball barely kicked into a fairway bunker, Hovland and DeChambeau both had birdie bids to tie him at 18. DeChambeau converted from 11 feet, pumping his fist wildly, but Hovland’s 10-footer turned just before the hole and stayed out. The Norwegian ended up shooting 66 and was third.

Schauffele needed a birdie at 18 to win, but that looked dicey after his drive ended up just above the left fairway bunker, forcing him to stand on a steep slope in the sand and choke down on his 4-iron.

“I just kept telling myself, ‘Man, someone out there is making me earn this right now,’” he said. “I just kept grinding. I get up there and just kind of chuckled. I was like, If you want to be a major champion, this is the kind of stuff you have to deal with. So I dealt with it, and happily was able to push that thing up. My only concern was sort of shanking it from more of a baseball swing.”

His approach came up short and left, 33 metres from the pin, and Schauffele hit a solid pitch, but he ended up at the most nerve-wracking of distances – short enough to be confident, but long enough to stir doubt.

This time, he didn’t miss when it mattered the most, even if his ball toured half the edge of the cup before falling in. Schauffele looked up to the skies in what looked like a mix of joy and total relief.

The chase was over.

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The nine hectares of land is outside of Poipu Beach on the Hawaiian island of Kauai. The Schauffele family owns it now, and on it sits a large cargo shipping container that doubles as a “house”, an excavator with a mulcher and a several chainsaws. There is no running water or air conditioning, and the only power is generated by solar panels. Bathroom? “You take a spade and you walk into the jungle – that’s your toilet,” Stefan Schauffele says.

Rather fitting for a man whose centuries-old, German-French name literally means “man with a small shovel”.

This rustic camp is where professional golfer Xander Schauffele’s parents, Stefan and Ping Yi, have spent weeks at a time away from their tract home in San Diego so they can eventually create an escape from the world for future generations of their family. Stefan is currently on a three-month stint there. Still, there are sacrifices, like not being able to have a television around when your son is contending in the final round of major championship.

That was the case on today for the elder Schauffele, who rose with the cries of Kauai’s ever-present roosters to work his land. It rained overnight and he wanted to check on the plants he’d just put in. Some 7,000 kilometres away and six hours ahead in time, Xander Schauffele began his round in the 106th PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club with the equal lead and his best chance to win what had been an elusive first major.

Over a couple of hours, Stefan checked his phone on his son’s progress, but he didn’t plan to watch any of the round until the back nine. He supposed he’d do so at a local sports bar, but then some friends visiting from home in San Diego called and invited him to their condo. He arrived in time to very calmly – he swears – watch the most important holes of the golf life he’d helped create.

“Sorry to disappoint you, but I was flatline,” Stefan Schauffele told Golf Digest on the phone. “Look, I’m observing; that’s what I do.”

Until the final putt fell. Xander Schauffele scared the heck out of anybody cheering for him when his six-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole caught the lip of the cup and looked like it would spin out. Only it dropped in by a fraction to give the 30-year-old Californian the major championship so many figured would eventually come, even if doubts had begun to creep in for everyone but Schauffele and his team. Schauffele led wire-to-wire, opening with a 62 and closing with a 65 to set a majors scoring record at 21-under 263.

After Schauffele signed his scorecard and was making his way back to the 18th green for the trophy presentation, he called his dad, who was sobbing almost uncontrollably. Flatline? Not a chance. “When the ogre is happy, he cries,” Stefan admitted, referring to himself by his long-held nickname. “Once he made that putt, I started melting like a piece of butter in a skillet.”

Apparently, the show of emotion was nothing new, though Stefan Schauffele has likely felt few moments more deeply. “My dad, he’s referred to as the ogre, but he’s a big teddy bear,” Xander said in his champion’s press conference. “Steve Stricker wins a tournament and he’s crying. My dad is sitting right there on the couch crying with him. That’s the kind of guy he is.”

Stefan and Xander have seemingly been joined at the hip since the father introduced his son to golf at age 9. Dad was the only true swing instructor Xander had until he began working more recently with well-known coach Chris Como. They fought like madmen sometimes – about everything. “We destroyed a whole bathroom once,” Stefan recalled in an interview a few years ago.

But Xander knew there was one person who would always love him and have his back, and even from across the continent and deep into the Pacific, his dad was speaking to him, one way or another. The father had asked the son if he needed him this week at Valhalla. He told Stefan to keep working his land.

“He crept into my mind [Saturday] during an interview,” Xander said. “I just said, ‘I’m going to have to sneak back to that, commit, execute, accept.’ That’s something that he’s ingrained in me since I was about nine years old… He’s been my swing coach and my mentor my entire life, and just like any good dad, you want to just set up your kid for a successful future. He really meant that. He was, like, ‘What capacity am I going to help you this week?’ He sent me positive texts through the week.”

During Xander’s pro career, his father listened to the commentators and critics who recognised his son’s talents – now eight PGA Tour wins is a very strong résumé – but wondered if he could overcome the scarring of so many early close calls in majors, including four top-three finishes. “See through your course,” was Stefan’s counter to his son.

“People are saying now he finally didn’t fail. But he never saw it as failure,” Stefan said. “He is a guy who is really consistent at a certain game plan. He can tone it up and tone it down. That’s the arsenal he has… If that trend gets you on top, you’re going to be hard to displace from that position. Take the world ranking. He has never once regressed.

With the win, Schaufele will reach his highest-ever spot in the rankings at No.2 behind Scottie Scheffler. He also guaranteed himself the opportunity to defend the Olympic gold medal he captured four years ago for the United States in his mother’s native Japan.

Stefan Schauffele has never been shy about offering his opinions, and even as he looked out at tourists surfing in the ocean from a condo in Kauai, he wasn’t in an “Aloha” frame of mind about Xander’s future prospects.

“Now he’s got this first major,” Stefan said. “This is the first one of the four. I’ve got a good feeling he’ll get the second one of the four this year. With as consistent as he is now, everybody is on notice.”

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For the second tee shot in a row in the closing moments of the PGA Championship, Xander Schauffele had received an unlucky break.

On the 18th hole yesterday, Schauffele hammered a drive right on his line: a tight fade at the right side of the left fairway bunker, which for the three days before, was just out of reach.

And that was quite literally, where his ball ended.

“I hit it exactly the way I wanted,” he said. “I must’ve been a little juiced.”

With his feet in the bunker and significantly below his ball, which was sitting on grass, Schauffele was 247 yards (226 metres) away from the hole on the par 5 and needed to birdie to win. He had a decision to make about what to do next.

Conventional wisdom would be pretty clear on the answer: recognise the awkward stance, and bunt your ball back into position. It was about 150 metres to cover the water. Something a little past that would put a nice, full wedge in your hands. Play it like a straightforward three-shot hole.

It might’ve worked. But even if it did, it wouldn’t have been the right call.

Schauffele opted for a messier route. He choked down severely on a 4-iron, aimed way right with what he called a “baseball swing”, and tried to sling a high hook into the vicinity of the green.

“I could not believe how far right he was aiming,” Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee said on the “Live From” show after the final round.

“I just wanted to push that thing up as far as possible,” Schauffele said afterward. “My only concern was shanking it, using more of a baseball swing.”

It was a masterful decision – and not just because it worked. I tweeted it before he even hit the shot, and I would’ve defended it even if he did hit that shank he was worried about.

I don't care what happens from here. Xander sending it as far up there as possible, even from that awkward stance, is the right call.

— LKD (@LukeKerrDineen) May 19, 2024

To understand why, let’s crunch some numbers.

Let’s reasonably imagine under the old-school route, Schauffele hits a safe shot down the fairway and finishes between 100 and 125 yards from the flag.

• From that range this season, his average proximity is 24 feet, 8 inches to the hole.
• His make rate on putts between 20 and 25 feet is 11 percent.
• His birdie (or better) percentage from this range is 21.5 percent

With all this in mind, we can safely guesstimate that opting for this play would’ve put Schauffele’s chance to win the PGA Championship somewhere about 15 percent outright. The rest of the time, he’s in a playoff with Bryson DeChambeau. Toss a coin to decide that one.

The thing is, Schauffele doesn’t really play par 5s that way. He is, in many ways, the poster boy for the new-school philosophy: get it close and figure it out. Schauffele has the highest go-for-the-green percentage on the PGA Tour this season, 83 percent. That’s what he did on this occasion.

• With his baseball swing, he advanced his ball to 36 yards from the green.
• His proximity on shots from outside 30 yards is 9 feet, 6 inches
• His make rate from this range is just better than 41 percent

Instead of settling for an 80 percent chance of a playoff, hitting this shot gave him a coin-toss chance of winning his first major outright, with a playoff the next likeliest option.

Then, Xander hit a good shot from the fairway. He hit his ball to six feet, where he makes about 72 percent of his putts – including this one.

The putt that made Xander Schauffele a PGA Champion! #PGAChamp pic.twitter.com/SjBehodFWu

— PGA Championship (@PGAChampionship) May 19, 2024

“It was a brave shot,” Golf Channel’s Paul McGinley said on “Live From”. “It could’ve been a top. All it takes is one slip of the foot.”

It’s true this was a brave shot in that it brought the worst possible outcome into play, but therein lies the lesson.

It’s tempting to see the safest potential option as the smartest one. Laying up – or laying back – is often the most convenient decision. It’s certainly one of the easiest ones to make. You probably won’t hit a shank, like the kind that crossed Xander’s mind, doing that. But even if you can’t get to the green, it’s rarely the right move. Schauffele had the foresight to recognise as much in the moment, and he lifted the trophy because of it.

“I get up there and just kind of chuckled. I was like, If you want to be a major champion, this is the kind of stuff you have to deal with,” Schauffele said when he saw the shot at hand. “I just kept telling myself, ‘Man, someone out there is making me earn this.’”

Earned it, he did.

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