Ollie Schniederjans entered the interview room in his capacity as the International Series India champion, but it was as if the past refused to lift from his shoulders.
Schniederjans’ ticket to the winners’ circle after nine years came as he tamed the beast of the DLF Golf and Country Club. But, as he soaked in each question with pauses preceding measured responses, Schniederjans’ victory shed light on a man who has been faced with many tribulations in life.
Ollie Schniederjans wins the 2025 International Series India
It isn’t just the body, wracked by injuries and set right by surgeries, that has had to cope. The 31-year’s old golf, which at one point matched and even surpassed Bryson DeChambeau’s in the amateur days, had to be modified so that the man who loved to be on the golf course could continue to pursue his passion despite mindboggling roadblocks.
Given the enormity of the odds, he could have chosen to walk away, but Schniederjans charted his course. He chose to be a lone ranger who had nothing to bank on save the belief that he could usher in excellence again with the support of a loving family.
Over time, the unsure steps steadied, and Schniederjans, set right by a pair of brand-new hips and unflinching resolve has staged a comeback over the past 12 months.
Those were the times
A star of the college team at Georgia Tech and twice a member of the Palmer Cup, instituted by Arnold Palmer as an elite collegiate tournament between the US and an International Team, it was as if the world was at Schniederjans’ feet.
World No. 1 on the World Amateur Golf Ranking for 41 weeks in 2014, the three-time NCAA All-American’s career was fast-tracked as his amateur status secured him a start on the PGA Tour, with exemptions to the 2015 US Open and Open Championship.
Turning professional, Schniederjans made cut at both the Majors, with his T12 placement at The Open serving as a career highlight to date, along with a win on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2016. The Dallas resident kept his PGA Tour dream alive by stumbling, learning, and even coming close to winning on a few occasions.
Losing his Tour card, Schniederjans was in between starts on the Korn Ferry Tour, the feeder tour to the PGA. He had one last chance to keep his place among the stars in early 2020, but finishing third in Bermuda wasn’t enough for a resurrection on the PGA Tour.
His dip in form further exacerbated by troubles in the body, Schniederjans was in a fight to save his career and stay sane while tending to his fast-eroding hip joints. Surgeries followed in succession, and playing half seasons on the Korn Ferry Tour as comeback attempts did not yield much results.
The frustration of life passing him by is one that Schniederjans cannot put into words.
“I had to sit at home for months, watching everyone else compete while I couldn’t even swing a club. Every week felt incredibly frustrating. My younger brother (Luke) is a professional golfer, and I couldn’t even go practice with him. I was completely out of the game multiple times for six months or more. It might sound short, but when you’re completely removed from your life’s passion, it feels like an eternity. Going through that changed me as a person,” he said.
Getting back
Returning at the start of 2024 with a healthy body did not guarantee anything to Schniederjans. Notably, the world of professional golf is cutthroat, and every inch must be earned.
Schniederjans did what he could, but the efforts weren’t enough for the man on the mend attempting a comeback. His limited status on the Korn Ferry Tour did not assure him of enough starts to prove himself in 2025; however, smart thinking helped turn it around.
Schniederjans signed up for LIV Golf’s Promotions event at Riyadh in December 2024. The gap between anonymity and a spot on a LIV Golf team was five shots, the margin by which he missed out on the top spot, which would have been his passport to the stage where it is golf, but louder.
But in the miss, Schniederjans laid the foundation of a track that would lead to glory in Gurugram in a few weeks’ time. The top 3 finish in Riyadh qualified him for all the 10 events on the International Series, the brainchild of LIV and Asian Tour.
Created with the aim of broad-basing the sport, the 36-hole Promotions met the objective as six of the 10 players with exemptions had no previous status on the International Series.
Life turns a circle
For one who battled hard to get his body in sync with a golf swing suited for avoiding injuries in post-surgery life, landing in the Millenium City of Gurugram for the season’s first International Series was about teeing off on a golf course where cruise control is not guaranteed at any point. Despite working his way up for the lead on Saturday, Schniederjans stayed on the vigil. “You can make a mess of any hole, so I had to stay sharp.”
He did, despite the bogey on Sunday’s penultimate hole, “win on an incredible course”. In the four-shot win, Schniederjans, at 10-under 278 (71, 69, 69, 69), had rolled back the glorious years.
“It took me a long time to get my swing to a point where my body could handle it. But I’ve been able to keep working without having to stop for injuries or rehabilitation. By the end of the season (2024), I felt like I was truly in control of my game and ready to do something big.”
From beating DeChambeau in the days of college golf to pushing the reigning US Open champion to the second spot at IS India, life had come a full circle for Schniederjans. Injury and loss of form had cut him off from the world, but here, he was catching up with friends from LIV and the PGA Tour, particularly DeChambeau.
If at the start of the week, Schniederjans was in awe and perhaps envious of some of the feats of contemporaries, the roles stood reversed by the time it was done late on Sunday.
DeChambeau was in applause. “He beat me multiple times in college. It’s really impressive to see how well he’s playing. I wish I could have given him a run for his money, but I wasn’t as prepared as I could have been.”
Route ahead
From limited status in the US, the win has opened a world of opportunities for Schniederjans on the Asian Tour and International Series.
Fellow American Andy Ogletree showed the way by winning the International Series Order of Merit in 2023 and is now part of the Phil Mickelson-led Hyflyers GC.
Schniederjans is determined to take the route. The team format on LIV is appealing and the way forward for him. “I want to play on a LIV Golf team. I thrived in team events in college, and I love that aspect of the game. Golf can be a lonely sport when you’re playing solo, but having a team environment, travelling together, and competing together, that excites me.”
Growing golf with DeChambeau
The depth on LIV was in ample display as DeChambeau, the showstopper at the USD 2 million event, headlined the strong presence on the leaderboard.
Along with DeChambeau, Joaquin Niemann, Abraham Ancer, Sebastian Munoz, Eugenio Chacarra, and tournament host Anirban Lahiri, all strong finishers on LIV and here, put together a tournament of extraordinary magnitude that attracted unprecedented crowds through the four days of competition.
DeChambeau spoke about growing golf in India through the week and re-emphasised it after the finale.
“India is ready for golf to explode here. I see it, I believe it. Baan (Lahiri) has been talking about it, and now it’s a reality. Hopefully, I and the Crushers, along with all of LIV Golf, can help inspire a younger generation,” he said.
Some of it was on display as 15-year-old amateur Kartik Singh became the youngest player from the subcontinent to make the cut in an Asian Tour event. Kartik, No. 1 on the World Amateur Golf Ranking in the under-15 category, lived a dream by featuring in a field that had winners on the PGA Tour and LIV.
“It felt unreal playing with Bryson because normally I’m watching him on TV, and here I played with him in the same tournament, so it was a great experience,” said Kartik. Watching the teenager sign autographs for young and senior fans brought out the ethos of sport, which is to inspire.
(Main and featured image: Jason Butler/Getty Images)
The information in this article is accurate as of the date of publication.
