Xander Schauffele, the winner of the 2024 PGA Championship, joins the show to discuss his favorite bagels, smoking cigars, how his international background shaped him, being challenged to be his best as a kid, winning a major, drinking from trophies, the coolest people he’s heard from since winning, and the funniest parts from Scottie Scheffler’s story.
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Xander there is nothing in your teeth you look like a champion you look like you have the smile of a champion you look like a winner he is 30 years old he’s a Bonafide star on the PGA tour uh after making the final group on Sunday four times this season finally won his first major PJ championship this Sunday and it’s his first win since 2022 it was such a feel-good win for people who love golf and love Xander because he has been so close so many times Dan he’s been in 28 Majors finishing the top 25 I think 21 times but right now he’s struggling with something in his teeth and I don’t know what it is what is happening why why are you struggling so much with what’s happening with your mouth right now entire TR just had an everything bagel I there’s something in there you know it’s a dangerous Bagel those are tough it is those are tough right before an interview a lot of seeds there’s a lot is put it on the poll is the everything bagel toughed right before an interview you going chive cream cheese pling what we doing here no it was just it was it it was actually a little like breakfast bagel so nice it was nice but you know tough time though yeah agent texted me he’s like you got to get on and I was like oh I was like let me well well fine don’t wor but what is I like the trophy casually being over your shoulder to nice touch what what is the greatest of the bagels go ahead and and make the perfect bagel for us oh everything bagel toasted I kind of like a little bit more of a toast on it as well I like a little bit double toast double toast for sure and then you know just some cream cheese I I keep it simple just like everything else nothing else you don’t want locks you don’t want anything just cream cheese a preferred shmear of any kind like do you have a brand that you endorse um no not really all right uh that uh concludes that particular culdesac where the interview questions end there uh I want to ask you though about the pad parenting in your life that involves you getting cigars at 10 years old like that doesn’t seem that that seems like something that everyone in your family should be against uh I have a you know my dad’s half French half German my mom’s Taiwanese grew up in Japan we’re we’re pretty you know we have a worldly background so I don’t know where it started but I was around cigar smoke for for quite some time well I thought it was 10 years old which sounds too early to me it is too early smoking a cigar at 10 I was in I was was getting secondhand High I guess so was I well that’s smoking I mean yeah I okay so you’re when did you start smoking cigars and what is uh what is your expertise in this area it’s I’m a rookie I mean I I’ll smoke them with pretty much anyone but uh usually celebratory is is the is the region social social to celebratory is how i’ categorize my smoking and then uh yeah I think the first cigar I ever tried was probably when I was I can’t say 12 or 13 J not 10 at least yeah that’s it’s still pretty early uh what just a touch it wasn’t much an inhale what can you tell us uh is UN unusual about your um upbringing when you have uh that uh when you have so much different culture in your upbringing what would you identify as some of the things most uh responsible for forming you uh good question um I’d say it was an unorthodox approach to just about everything uh the way we you know the the like it was very European I guess the way like we’d have three-hour dinners when we’d have conflict we would sit and talk about what happened it wouldn’t be like go to your room you’re grounded like I’ve never been grounded in my entire life so all these like it was an like a lot of conversation we talked through a lot of the problems he like my dad my mom they always wanted me to understand what was going on why I was in trouble if I was ever in trouble I mean like I it felt like I could do pretty much anything as a kid compared to a lot of my other friends but you know I always think back to like when I was a kid I was like why didn’t I do more dumb stuff like if my parents didn’t really mind and so they obviously had some sort of hook hook in me there uh knowing that I wasn’t going to do anything too bad as a kid but yeah the international background just brought a lot of a lot of a lot of culture a lot of food um and a lot of family into the whole thing when you mentioned cultural influences which would you say was the greatest like which was the one that pushed you forward the most I mean it’s a it’s a mix I mean I you know Asian culture is super family oriented um German the Germans and the Japanese you know historically have gotten along in the past they uh they they instill a lot of discipline a lot of perfection a lot of work ethic um and then the French the French kind of aspect you know my dad’s half French and you know he tries to explain how how they live their lives they they try to enjoy how they live you know sa viiv whatever it means he would always say that as a kid for me growing up like it’s it’s just a way way like to live your life a certain way and to enjoy everything so you take your time when you eat dinner you take your time when you’re with your friends um you’re never really in too much of a rush so there’s a lot of clash with the cultures but I’m kind of just like a Melting Pot of a lot of it where’ the discipline come from though because it’s such a lonely sport it requires such perfectionism so the discipline about being meticulous where does that come from yeah definitely you know um the Asian in me you know stere stereotypically and uh the German for sure just the the German drill sergeant from my you know my dad’s perspective was just just hounding Hound hounding down on me you know always just make you know holding me accountable um you know we’d have conversations about what I what I’d like to do you know how I want to go about my work and it didn’t take a whole lot once I you know came out with what I was trying to do myself and I verbalized it you know my dad would hold me to my words often and it didn’t take a lot for him to to push me because I said it all and things that I wanted so he just he just held me to a high standard give me the most extreme example you can think of from your childhood of trying to meet the expectations around that kind of pushing uh he never really pushed he like I just when when he when I sat down you know I mean I was I was just like any kid I wanted to hang out with my friends I wanted to you know go to the mall after school I wanted to do all those small things but you know my dad told me if you want to be great at anything you have to put a ton of hours into it and you’re young so you can get a nice Head Start and so he’s like I will help you if you are committed and I will love you if you’re committed I will still love you if you’re not committed but this is a choice you need to make right now and it’s a hard choice because you’re a kid and so I just remember there’s times you know where school would end and I would try to hitch a ride from my buddies because I was I was pretty young when I was you know I was like 13 when I got to high school my parents were foreigners but I was just trying to go to like just trying to get to myself to the golf course you know in the random days where I was tired after school it was like you know Get Out 3 P.M and you know I’d be at home my dad would come home from work he’d be like did you practice and I would look at him you know like every kid looks at their parent when they mess up and he didn’t really have to say anything else and I just felt this like overwhelming guilt in my body because I told him that I was committed and I told him that I wanted this and I was letting him down and I was letting myself down more than anything so I don’t I don’t know how he did it but he freaking he he played some nice mind games with me when I was a kid uh Xander I’ve got no connection point to being a good golfer let alone one that’s barreling down on the precipice of winning a a championship like you just did typically people that cruise to a TI they have a Charmed existence and I don’t know what your mindset is but you had to play really good golf to win this one you had some of the best golfers in the world on an absolute heater in formed to win a title are you paying attention to what other people are are doing on the course knowing that you have to lock in that much more or are you just tuning in out and trying to play your game I mean both you there’s these leaderboards that are like 30 by 30 you know there’s they’re massive you just see him everywhere so I look at it I I recognize it I embrace it and then I just have to lock in I got to realize you know why am I in this position it’s because I’ve been staying in my Lane it’s because I’ve been doing all these things the way I do them and so it’s easy to get you know lost in the sauce like looking too far ahead and you just you just look at the board you accept it you embrace it and then you just get to work you know you know exactly what you have to do to to win a tournament and hard part is doing it obviously but um you know just locking in locking in after every shot you know it’s a it’s a it’s like a weird three hours of your life because it’s going really fast but it’s also so slow at the same time it’s it’s strange it’s hard to explain uh Xander we have video here of the second shot on 18 you have two feet in the sand the ball’s above your legs I tell the guys and I told them yesterday that’s one of the greatest shots in golf history that no one will ever talk about do you agree with me yeah it’s it’s ner I mean it’s nerve-wracking I mean I’ve hit that shot if you’ve played a sport enough and you’re surrounded you’re in their sport a ton like golf for example I’ve you know I’ve hit it on a property you can possibly imagine so I’ve had a shot like that before and I wasn’t too nervous about it and like you said everyone was playing incredible golf like I knew I had to make a birdie and if you’re trying to win you have to go for it so I knew chipping out you know and trying to hit an iron up on that Ridge wasn’t going to get me a birdie I knew punching it up there somewhere was going to give me the best chance and opportunity to win this golf tournament how many beers have been consumed out of that trophy behind you um you know it start we started with champ some champagne you we’re in Kentucky so there was whiskey like classically some bourbon it was uh we had a we had a nice go with it we had a small crew there uh at the rental um when we get back to I’m in Florida right now but when we get back to San Diego that’s where Austin’s from and and a lot of my you know that’s where I grew up so uh I’m sure and then and then my parents are on a whole another level you know they have their like Crews they’re going to go out with so there’s a good chance my parents actually drink more out of this than I do I have so many questions but we have limited time time with you who are some of the coolest people you’ve heard from over the last couple of days that you find moving uh you know I have tigers reached out you know all a lot of guys on tour have reached out uh they’ve been super supportive uh you know MJ texted me I I got to know him a little bit better at joining The Grove here in Florida um Steph Curry reached out he’s a Callaway Callaway staffer so it’s it’s been uh you know it’s been an awesome it’s cool to have you know other sporting figures uh to reach out to me could have just said MJ I mean I mean yes but he’s got a it’s a good list uh I I want I want to kind of go through his texts here but who hasn’t reached out that should have my dad my dad who’s the person come on I mean I am yeah my phone I thought my phone was gonna explode so I’m still like I’m I’m constantly just trying to get back to everyone’s been so supportive I’m just trying to get back to everyone individually I thought my phone was L going to overheat at some point what’s your go-to response cuz you’re getting so many it’s kind of like when you get birthday messages like are you just saying thanks bro like what’s your go-to response to all the congratulations you’re getting I definitely I’m not a copy and pter so I mean I I’ll read read what they wrote and you know I’ll try to respond accordingly salute Emoji salute Emoji just the heart you just heart it and move on no no yeah that’s like a that’s a that’s like kind a nice thing that you know the iPhone did or apple or iMessage you know where you can just like hard everything but I I’ll write a text I’ll address who they are just so it doesn’t feel like you know I’m just ripping through these things you hear from Scotty or his hands tied that’s a good jokeer oh man no yeah Scotty and Meredith they’re they’re awesome Meredith When that’s going down are you’re like oh this field just opened up yeah it’s the number one golfer in the world he fired a 66 after he got out of prison my friend but you know it’s gives me a certain advantage to have him in jail not does break up the groove there’s only a few ways to beat the guy you know what I’m saying what uh what is the best of the group chat because I’ve been told by sources that the group chat that you have changed the group chat to include sheffer’s mug shot that was not there was someone else on our table that did that it was the day after we we we needle Scotty he’s takes it like a champ so our little group chat uh for our physio table ended up being a mug shot up Scotty and and you took it great you show up the next day smiling at everybody but take us through you learning the news and how where you were just take us through everything that happened there where you realize my friend’s in jail this isn’t terrible for me he can they can wait they can wait a while before they let him out um yeah I mean I thought it was a prank I mean I woke up I woke up I can’t remember what time 7:45 or 8:00 or something I trying to sleep in and my you know my wife has media on her phone I don’t I don’t have anything on my phone so she like showed me she’s like what is this and I was like H it must be a prank or something and then you know we turned the TV on and you know he’s just plastered all over ESPN so I was like oh like that’s kind of that’s kind of interesting and then you know news started coming out but he’s he’s I don’t know if you guys know him at all or I’ve ever talked to him he’s he is like he’s a concrete dude he’s solid so like I I know him pretty well now and I’ve competed against him and he uh there’s no way he would ever do anything to harm anyone except a competitor or a golf ball so all well and fine but what was the funniest thing what was the no he’s not going to answer that you saw him got get to the club and like what happened to due process I just want to know fun what the f stuff was holding so quick the funny stuff with Scotty being in prison jail not prison yeah not hard time yet still pending he was like he teas it up are you saying to yourself how do you get out so quick I mean no I mean I I think the funniest thing I I was like I don’t know how people in Kentucky had like a screen printer but they had like mug shot shirts like an hour and a half after he was released and I was like walking around property you know what I mean and like kids are wearing a a free Scotty shirt I’m like I people are people are incredible these days I I don’t know how they do it uh yes or no question we will let the champion go on this one yes or no you will at one point wear one of those t-shirts in front of him [Laughter] I I would yes I would 100% wear it in front of me okay let’s make sure he gets one please uh Xander thank you for being on with us we appreciate it and congratulations thanks boys
2 Comments
Billy @1209 was an absolute sniper 😂
Best guy on the tour