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Top 20 Players to Watch in 2019: No. 14 Xander Schauffele

By Brandon Raper

SHANGHAI, CHINA - OCTOBER 28: Xander Schauffele of the United States plays his shot from the fifth tee during the final round of the WGC - HSBC Champions at Sheshan International Golf Club on October 28, 2018 in Shanghai, China. (Photo by Matthew Lewis/Getty Images)
SHANGHAI, CHINA - OCTOBER 28: Xander Schauffele of the United States plays his shot from the fifth tee during the final round of the WGC - HSBC Champions at Sheshan International Golf Club on October 28, 2018 in Shanghai, China. (Photo by Matthew Lewis/Getty Images) /
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Xander Schauffele has rocketed to the upper levels of the PGA TOUR in just two seasons. While the 25-year-old still has plenty of room to grow, he’s proving with each milestone that he isn’t going to back down any time soon.

Xander Schauffele might not have the easiest name to pronounce in the world, but with the way he’s burst onto the PGA TOUR scene, golf fans everywhere are quickly getting more familiar with it.

The 25-year-old out of San Diego State is entering his third full season on the PGA TOUR in 2019, and already his list of accomplishments rivals that of many of his more tenured colleagues. In the 2016-17 season, Schauffele won both the then-Greenbrier Classic and the TOUR Championship, earning Rookie of the Year honors, along with over $4.3 million in prize money.

In many ways, the 2017-18 season was even better for Schauffele, even though he went winless for the campaign. He made 22 of 27 cuts (up from 20 of 28 the year before), and increased his top-ten total from four to seven. Two of those high-level finishes came in major championships, as Schauffele tied for sixth in the U.S. Open. Then, at the Open Championship at Carnoustie, he carried a share of the lead into the final round, which he held at points on the back nine despite an awful start to his round. He ended up tying for second, only two shots behind a flawless Francesco Molinari.

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Looking at his success in a different lens, Schauffele’s fifth-place tie at the 2017 U.S. Open pushed him from 352nd in the Official World Golf Ranking to 178th. His TOUR Championship victory brought him from 66th to 32nd. Today, coming off his win at the WGC-HSBC Champions in October, he’s ranked No. 11, and he doesn’t appear to be slowing down his pace at all heading into the new year.

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These days, Schauffele’s relatively young age isn’t a hindrance as much as it is almost a prerequisite on the PGA TOUR. However, what remains to be seen is just how long he can keep building on what are becoming some pretty wild expectations. We’re not quite to the Jordan Spieth-Justin Thomas level of superstardom, but with another win or two this season, we won’t be far off, either.

The name of the game for Schauffele is going to be consistency. That will come with a bit more time, but the thing you can’t really teach is the mental focus and drive he’s already demonstrated. He’s had more thrown at him in his first two years on TOUR than many do in their first ten. And from his first trip to Augusta National (where he admitted to “walking on eggshells”) to staring down established stars like Thomas along the way, the toughest part of golf seems to be coming surprisingly easily to him.

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Now that he’s gotten the sophomore nerves behind him, Xander Schauffele will be working this year to prove that he’s ready to stand with golf’s elite class for the long haul.

With a WGC victory already on the books for the 2018-19 season, “predicting” a deep run in the FedEx Cup Playoffs is too much of a softball. But I’d be shocked if Schauffele didn’t have Sunday, April 14th already highlighted on his calendar. Maybe something in his wardrobe that goes well with green, too.

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