After Xander Schauffele won the 2024 PGA Championship at Valhalla, his father Stefan rejected the notion that his son would shortly be joining LIV Golf.
Following his first major victory, Xander Schauffele’s father Stefan has rejected the notion that his son will shortly be joining LIV Golf.
Every major championship victory a PGA Tour player has had over the past two years has sparked wild rumors that, having earned long-term exemptions into the big four, they would soon make their way to the breakaway tour.
Who knows, maybe if the Spaniard hadn’t cut the 2023 Masters and the Australian hadn’t broken Rory McIlroy’s heart at St. Andrews two years ago, Jon Rahm and Cameron Smith might still be PGA members.
Is Schauffele, 30, therefore more open to a move away after winning the PGA Championship at Valhalla?
Not at all.
His parents, who told GOLF that “the opposite would probably be closer to the truth,” at least seem to think so.
Stefan stated that although his son’s team had discussed a possible switch with LIV, there were two major obstacles: there was no assurance of returning to the PGA Tour and there were no world ranking points.
Stefan stated: “With Xander by my side, we told LIV in Saudi Arabia that we would have nothing to talk about if there was no way to return to the PGA Tour or if there was no opportunity to earn world ranking points.
“Even if hundreds of millions of dollars are thrown at him. That statement is still true. My nickname, The Ogre, is not arbitrary. I honor my promises.”
Normally, you would think Stefan, but Rahm, the aforementioned, had previously expressed in great detail the importance of legacy to him prior to joining LIV in December of last year for an alleged half a billion dollars.
Millions of dollars, Rahm had previously stated, would not in the slightest alter his life with his wife Kelley.
Stefan added to the publication that he was in a shipping container 4,400 miles away, watching his son win a major championship.
He’s in charge of building a “family compound” on the Hawaiian island of Kaui.
Stefan was not present for Schauffele’s stunning nine-under 62 last Thursday, which propelled him to the top of the leaderboard.
However, he watched the last round and sobbed when that birdie putt fell in.
Furthermore, he insisted that he wasn’t anxious to watch him align it.
“I reasoned that if he misses, Bryson will get another opportunity and he will whack him in a playoff.”
Schauffele, for his part, claimed that just before raising the Wanamaker Trophy, he made a hasty phone call to his father but had to end the conversation because he could feel his emotions rising.
During his victory press conference, he said of his father, “My dad is actually — he’s referred to as The Ogre, but he’s a big teddy bear.”
“After winning a tournament, Steve Stricker starts crying. Sitting next to him on the couch, crying alongside him, is my dad. He is the type of guy that he is.”
Leave a Reply