Xander Schauffele and his father Stefan in 2021.
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As Xander Schauffele spoke to Amanda Balionis of CBS throughout the PGA Championship trophy ceremony on an idyllic Sunday night at Valhalla Golf Club, simply behind them stood the gleaming Wanamaker Trophy and two rows of sun-kissed PGA of America and Valhalla officers. It was a joyous scene: Schauffele, explaining why he was so emotional after his successful putt spun across the edge of the outlet and dropped; Seth Waugh, the PGA of America CEO, and John Lindert, the PGA of America president, wanting on proudly on the 106th winner of one of the affiliation’s flagship occasions; 1000’s of followers nonetheless packed within the 18th inexperienced grandstands, absorbing the previous few moments of what had been a historic 21-under-par week for Schauffele.
Good vibes throughout, and in addition one thing else: a marked distinction from the final time we noticed Schauffele signing off at a high-profile PGA of America occasion, the Ryder Cup final fall. Things didn’t go effectively for Schauffele and his American teammates that week in Rome, with the Europeans prevailing handily at Marco Simone, 16.5-11.5. Schauffele misplaced all three of his staff matches earlier than successful his sole level in a Sunday singles match towards Nicolai Højgaard.
It was a difficult week for the U.S. aspect and never simply because they had been outplayed. On Saturday, Sky Sports, citing unnamed sources, reported that there was a rift on the U.S. squad attributable to Patrick Cantlay’s insistence that the gamers be paid; the report additionally alleged that Cantlay and Schauffele, who’re shut buddies and frequent team-play companions, had remoted themselves from the remainder of the U.S. staff within the locker room. Cantlay and several other different U.S. gamers vehemently denied that there was any semblance of U.S. discord.
But two days later, one other report dropped, this time from the Times of London, through which Schauffele’s father and then-swing coach, Stefan, claimed that the PGA of America had threatened to take away Xander from the U.S. staff if he refused to signal a participant participation and advantages settlement, which the Schauffeles had been hopeful to amend; one of these amendments, the AP had beforehand reported, was limiting how a lot entry Netflix must shoot the Ryder Cup staff for its “Full Swing” collection. “The PGA of America were not willing to even talk to us about [the amendments],” Stefan instructed the Times. “It was very late in the schedule, right before the team came here [to Rome] to practice because they had moved the deadline and they said, ‘If you don’t sign it by then, you’re off the team’, but they never gave us the contact information of their legal counsel.”
In early September, Stefan mentioned that he did lastly join with the PGA of America’s common counsel. “It took a few hours to hash it out and it was fine,” Stefan instructed the Times. “Then I received a message that Xander was back on the team. That you can quote. That’s the extent of this, and I think it’s shameful.”
But Stefan had extra on his thoughts, specifically the thorny case for why gamers ought to be compensated to play within the Ryder Cup, which is co-owned by the PGA of America and three PGA organizations from Europe. On Sunday of Ryder Cup week, Stefan aired his grievances to some of reporters, together with my colleague Dylan Dethier.
“It’s a pretty simple kind of argument,” Stefan mentioned of paying gamers to compete in an occasion that grosses 9 figures for its organizers. “I think it would stand up in anybody’s mind, the court of public opinion and potentially in the courts.” He added: “We need to talk about it without [players] getting shamed into not being patriotic. If there is any portion of this that is unpatriotic, it’s the PGA of America that are unpatriotic.”
Tour Confidential: Xander’s PGA win, Scheffler’s weird week, Rahm’s controversial feedback
GOLF Editors
No one is suggesting the Ryder Cup rigidity between the Schaufelles and PGA of America did something to tarnish the proceedings at Valhalla Sunday. But it’s additionally onerous to not see the irony in Xander, lower than eight months after the Italy awkwardness, celebrating his first main win towards a backdrop of PGA of America management (to not point out amassing $3.3 million for his efforts). Stefan is at staple at his son’s occasions — together with his German accent, giant body and mop of curls, he’s onerous to overlook — however was notably absent this week. He was, the truth is, greater than 4,000 miles away, in Hawaii, Xander mentioned. Stefan would have relished sharing the successful second together with his son. For so long as Xander has proven an curiosity within the sport, Stefan has served as his swing coach, life coach and supervisor. But in recent times he has begun shedding some of these roles; teacher Chris Como now retains an eye fixed on Xander’s mechanics.
“He feels like he can kind of take his hands off the wheel,” Xander mentioned of his father Sunday night. “He trusts [Chris] a lot, I trust him a lot. My dad is at that stage in his life, I really want him to be happy, and I know this is going to bring him a ton of joy where he’s at in Hawaii right now.”
Xander mentioned that he spoke briefly with father by telephone earlier than the trophy ceremony. “He was a mess,” Xander mentioned. “He was crying. It made me pretty emotional. I told him I had to hang up because I had to walk down. I couldn’t show up looking like the way I was.”
When Schauffele did arrive on the inexperienced, he was poised, smiling and able to recap his win with Balionis. He spoke of being grateful for having prevented a playoff with Bryson DeChambeau; of the significance of mentally staying “in my lane” for all 4 rounds; and of the help he felt from his staff onsite. As the interview wrapped, Balionis famous that Schauffele is now engrained in PGA of America historical past.
“One more time, Xander Schauffele, hoist that Wanamaker Trophy,” she mentioned. “You are forever a PGA champion.”
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