PGA Championship winner Xander Schauffele does not want to join LIV Golf – even if ‘hundreds of millions of dollars’ are offered to switch from the PGA Tour. On Sunday, Schauffele capped off a remarkable four days of play to win his first major title, staving off Bryson DeChambeau to win in an epic finale.
Schauffele finally ended talk of his inability to perform in the biggest moments as he clinched the Wanamaker Trophy following a remarkable performance at Valhalla. After several near misses, the 30-year-old emerged triumphant after registering a record 21-under-par score.
Schauffele held his nerve to sink a birdie putt on the 18th to edge out DeChambeau and secure his breakthrough win by a single shot. The victory means the American has secured an exemption into the biggest tournaments in the sport, with Schauffele set to enter the PGA Championship for the rest of his career while he has now received guaranteed entry for the next five editions of the other three majors.
Given his monumental victory, rumours quickly spread that Schauffele would become the latest high-profile target for LIV Golf. However, his father and swing coach Stefan quickly shut down any speculation linking his major-winning son with a switch.
“No chance,” Stefan told GOLF.com. “Xander is not chasing the money. Xander is about legacy. And as my opinion – just as his father – there was never a chance.
“What we told LIV in Saudi Arabia, with Xander beside me, was that if there is no path back to the PGA Tour and if there is no chance at World Ranking points we do not have anything to talk about. Even if you throw hundreds of millions of dollars at him. That word still stands.”
The road to major glory was littered with adversity for Schauffele. He became golf’s ‘nearly man’, finishing in the top 10 on 12 occasions at majors before breaking through last weekend.
Schauffele, an Olympic gold medallist at Tokyo 2020, led the PGA Championship from day one, shooting a sensational 62 to open before locking in with a final day 65. When asked how he had been affected by the narrative of his near misses, the Ryder Cup star said: “Definitely a chip on the shoulder there.
“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 [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.”
He added: “All those close calls for me, that sort of feeling gets to you at some point. It just makes this even sweeter. I know it’s a major, but just winning in general this is as sweet as it gets for me.”
