Tiger Woods sent ‘awesome’ text to Xander Schauffele after PGA win
Xander Schauffele never doubted himself, and it turns out Tiger Woods didn’t either. Schauffele shed the “best-player-never-to-win-a-major” label with a thrilling victory at the PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club on Sunday. Despite carrying that moniker, Schauffele always believed his time would come. “I believe in positive self-talk,” Schauffele said, the Wanamaker Trophy beside him….
Xander Schauffele never doubted himself, and it turns out Tiger Woods didn’t either.
Schauffele shed the “best-player-never-to-win-a-major” label with a thrilling victory at the PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club on Sunday. Despite carrying that moniker, Schauffele always believed his time would come.
“I believe in positive self-talk,” Schauffele said, the Wanamaker Trophy beside him. “I will tell myself, I’ll speak to myself. I just kept doing it. When you believe something enough, it’ll happen.”
Before Sunday, his major record was 0 for 27. He entered the final round at Valhalla tied for the lead but had only converted two of eight 54-hole leads or co-leads into victories. Just the week before, at the Wells Fargo Championship, he held the 54-hole lead only to be overtaken by Rory McIlroy.
Schauffele had been close in majors before, with 12 career top-10 finishes, but hadn’t sealed the deal. On Sunday, he shot a six-under 65, making clutch up-and-downs for par and birdie on the last two holes to edge out Bryson DeChambeau by one stroke.
Finally, Schauffele had his major. And he received a text from Tiger Woods. Schauffele shared the message 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.”
More major titles might be on the horizon for Schauffele. This victory has only fueled his motivation.
“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. I have had a lot of that feeling, which is super fortunate for me. So the result of winning is obviously awesome, but getting in the hunt at these big tournaments is awesome.”