Xander Schauffele never doubted himself. Turns out Tiger Woods didn’t, either.
Schauffele, who recently ditched the “best-player-never-to-win-a-major” title with his thrilling PGA Championship victory at Valhalla Golf Club on Sunday, always thought his time would come. Heck, he didn’t even care he was usually the owner of that moniker. He believed he was the best, too.
“I believe in positive self-talk,” Schauffele said on Sunday, the Wanamaker Trophy by his side, when asked if he ever doubted he’d win a major. “I will tell myself, I’ll speak to myself. I just kept doing it. When you believe something enough, it’ll happen.”
But before Sunday, his time had yet to come (0 for 27 in his previous majors). He entered the final round at Valhalla tied for the lead, but he was just 2 of 8 in his career in converting those 54-hole leads or co-leads to victories. The week before the PGA he held the 54-hole lead at the Wells Fargo Championship, but Rory McIlroy beat him by six in the final round to win.
He’d been close at majors too — 12 career top-10 finishes entering the PGA — but had yet to finish the job. Then came Sunday, when he shot a six-under 65 and made clutch up-and-downs for par and birdie, respectively, on the last two holes to beat Bryson DeChambeau by one.
Finally, Schauffele had his major. And he had a text from Tiger Woods, too. Schauffele shared what is said on this week’s episode of GOLF’s Subpar podcast.
“He texted me, ya know, and I think he is right; he’s been through it all himself,” Schauffele said. “But he texted me something along the lines of, ‘You know, all those times you were close, I think that hardened you for this moment … and I’m proud of you. It’s incredible. I couldn’t be more proud of you.’ That was an awesome text I got from T-Dub.”
There might be more major titles to come as well. Schauffele said this victory has just motivated him even more.
“It’s just like a drug,” he said. “You just wanna keep having that feeling. I think my favorite feeling in golf is to be in the hunt, regardless of the outcome or the result. That rush you feel when you are in contention coming down the stretch is why I love playing golf and why I love sport in general, and I have had a lot of that feeling, which is super fortunate for me. So the result of wining is obviously awesome, but getting in the hunt at these big tournaments is awesome.”
