Xander Schauffele

Alexander Victor Schauffele (; born October 25, 1993) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour, having won seven times since turning professional in 2015. Schauffele's best major finish is tied second at both the 2018 Open Championship and the 2019 Masters. Schauffele won the Olympic gold medal at the men's individual golf event of the 2020 Summer Olympics. Early life Schauffele was born on October 25, 1993, in San Diego, California, to a French/German naturalized immigrant father and a Taiwanese naturalized immigrant mother who grew up in Japan. His father has been his only swing coach throughout his golf career. Schauffele’s teaching philosophy relies heavily on basic ball flight laws and golf club mechanics – as a result Schauffele had not seen his own swing until about age 18. Schauffele went to Scripps Ranch High School. Two of Schauffele's great-grandfathers played soccer at the European premier level. Johann Hoffmann played for the Austria national football team and won multiple Austrian (SK Rapid Wien), Bohemian (DSV Saaz), and French (FC Sochaux; Racing Strasbourg) national titles. After playing football for VfB Stuttgart, Richard Schauffele excelled in track and field, garnering over 40 titles in discus, javelin and shot put for 2 clubs, the Stuttgarter Kickers and the Cannstatter Ruder-Club. Amateur career Schauffele was the individual winner of the 2011 California State High School Championship (California Interscholastic Federation, CIF), playing for Scripps Ranch High School. After graduating from high school, Schauffele played his freshman year in college at California State University Long Beach, where he garnered the 2012 Big West Conference Freshman of the Year as well as the 2012 First Team All-Big West awards.