Xander Schauffele's success? A 5 word text explains it all

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – On Saturday night, before the final regrouping in another final round of another and an undeniable victory opportunity, I am as good as all the people who say-I am victory, sent the father of Xander Schauffele. to him the text.

“Steter tropfen höhlt den stein,” was the message, in Stefan Schauffele's native German, umlaut and all, no punctuation required. Xander asked to translate.

Chris Como, a world-renowned trainer who has been working with Xander for six months, allowing Stefan to – in Xander's words – “take his hands off the wheel,” received the same message from Stefan, who was entering Hawaii.

Steter tropfen höhlt den stein. Constant dripping wears away the stone.

Talking to Xander's old man – known as The Ogre, due to his incredible size and tumult – hear phrases like this. He was a student growing up, his son said, and is a walking list of proverbs. This phrase, however – a Greek proverb dating back to the 5th century – is a very appropriate Stefan-ism as it encapsulates the current moment in Xander's life, as he plays the best golf he's ever played.

That drip is always good, they think, as long as it breaks that nasty rock.

IF SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER IS CURRENT in polished golf, then Xander Schauffele is the current standard for stable golf. He has never missed two years. The top eight this season alone. (Nine, now.) The leading golf statistics site, DataGolf, rates tournament fields by the X-Score metric, named in his honor — the odds that a perennial top-five player like X (Xander) would win.

Stability is good, and his version of stability is good. It pays the bills and puts you in Ryder Cup groups and earns you equity on the PGA Tour, but it doesn't guarantee you any trophies. He's 22 months without a win, the fact he didn't volunteer out loud all week. He finished in the top 20 eight major competitions, but never enter the top 5. Usually the bride, never the bride, asks if that stone will ever be cut, like many other experts.

“I always say this about people who have never won a Tour event before, or just a big, high-level event,” Max Homa said this week. “You can tell all the people in the world It is possible again You can whatever it is, but it almost takes you doing it once to be able to confirm it in your mind.”

Schauffele agreed with him very much. After turning 30 and completing seven great years on the PGA Tour, he was the undisputed best player outside of the Grandmaster. BPWAM is a posthumous recommendation that the golf world gives to different players at different times, only when they have earned it – the good part and the bad part.

“I thought I was him [that],” said Schauffele on Sunday night. “Not that what people say makes me think so. I felt like I had done enough work, I was good enough to do it. I just needed to shut my mind and really do it. “

But to do this game is unlike any other. It depends what to do in this arena is to conquer the body and mind and beat 155 others at the same time. It depends what to do in this game to extend the wisdom of 72 holes and four days, everyone wants you to look forward to the finish line. “There's nothing you can do but keep doing what you're doing,” Como said five days ago, in the Valhalla locker room. He was getting into Xander's head, figuring out what the next step would be after Rory McIlroy beat Schauffele on Sunday at the Wells Fargo Championship.

“What are you going to do?” Como asked and we talked. It was a 99th percentile day – a final round of 65 – from a 99th percentile player. Don't worry about being different.

He didn't. Even his own. Two days later, when Schauffele shot a record 62, he told the press: “It's only Thursday,” with a “slow” laugh.

On Friday afternoon, his message read: “It's just 36 holes. It's a really good start to the tournament.”

Saturday night, no change: Tomorrow is “just another Sunday.”

Keep plugging away, let the water drip, and say nothing about it. That's his method of operation. You may have gotten a knowing smile from Schauffele rather than a thoughtful expression. You keep things inside. Rather than share what he's thinking with the world, Xander types ideas into the notes app on his phone. Things his wife does not see. Things his card wants to know about. You intend to speak a lot of good for yourself. Commit, apply, and accept a phrase he keeps thinking about. Another Stefan-ism.

THERE IS A THIRD YOUTH TO TELL that starts in Schauffele's head, which he shared earlier this year, after he almost missed out on the Players Championship, in March.

“I always tell myself,” he said, “if you try to win you have to walk through the fire.” And if you can get through unscathed, you will win the competition.”

In Valhalla, the firemen were leading in two groups. Viktor Hovland and Bryson DeChambeau, two of the best in the world, traded birdies and drew the crowd to their side. Hovland struck first, making birdies on the 5th, 6th and 7th and threes on the 10th, 12th and 13th. DeChambeau got his birdies freely, spread throughout his round, never letting up. Schauffele secured both with the best two irons of his week – a 210-yard putt on the 11th (birdie) followed by a 205-yard bogey on the 12th (birdie). He reached 20 under on his way to 13, but his goal for the day was 22. He was right.

Hovland had 10 feet on the 18th so, 64, but it slipped. DeChambeau also had a 10-footer for 18 of his 64, and unlike Hovland he did, sending echoes of uncertainty through the backfield. Golf fans talk about their cheers first, but also their feet, and most of the spectators at Valhalla were with that third-to-last group, following the game's greatest entertainer. Schauffele's walk through the fire got hotter as he approached the final hole, because DeChambeau had pulled everyone on 18 and now they were in a fight to see what could happen.

After a par of 17, Schauffele needed 5 to get a playoff and 4 to win outright. He's been staring at the leaderboards all day – a habit he doesn't usually use, but the kind of change you can use as a BPWAM. When his last ball landed on the first par, a ring of soft turf near the fairway bunker, he laughed. “I was like, if you want to be a great champion, this is the kind of stuff you have to deal with.”

Xander dug his toes into the sand and swung the Callaway bound like a baseball player, catching it clean and drawing it, just short of the left of the green.

For a player who views the short game as one of his “starting stats” – like, when he's lost, that's the reason – it was a scary place to go. He will be working on the hill that killed Rory McIlroy's shot in 2014. But Xander liked where he ended up, and for a player who was so good that data scientists ate up his skill set, sometimes. to love you All that matters. We know he liked it because his caddy, Austin Kaiser, was still staring at the shot an hour later, holding a victory drink.

THE BIG GAME IS LONG, the cookers are pulled out, cut off in an instant and out in one dizzying, emotional blur. Xander stood up from the floor for that 4 and immediately threw both hands up in the sky, making a sight that doubters would think about forever. Kaiser ran in for a hug, telling his friend he loved him. Como burst into tears. “I feel the emotions, man!” Xander said as he walked towards the goal tent. “I usually play golf. But f—k.” His wife was crying, his uncle was crying. Schauffele called his father crying on the phone. Xander had to pull away, or else he'd start squirming too.

When the fruits of your labor are left out of your control, the senses do strange things. Como was panting after the results, breathing heavily. To take his mind off the action, Como actually left the grounds of Valhalla, mid-round, and gave a local friend's son a skating lesson on a Sunday afternoon.

But around 7:30 p.m. as the PGA drew to a close, Kaiser held that victory drink and stood with Como down the 18th fairway as Xander took pictures with the grounds crew, volunteers, turf crew, PGA officials and they are fried. champagne with a Valhalla membership.

Como and Kaiser were avid golfers, unsure of what to do with themselves as the sun-kissed hole was laid out before them. They gave interview after interview, took picture after picture, and began to dive into the play, running to the place where Schauffele's rise and fall began. Kaiser saw the mark where Schauffele's frame cut the grass and began replaying the moment. Como took out his phone and began to video chat. “This is a chip,” he said, giggling like a child.

“When he got here,” Kaiser said, “he went up and he goes, 'If you told me I was going to hit it here, I would have taken it.'

“That's it terrible. What i condition,” Como said. His eyes widened, curious and impressed. What else was left? The goals Xander and Austin shared in class, how Austin advised him on his placement throughout the round, the math he said to plan their way from one good to the next. Spray, spray, spray.

“He came here and so am I St. Hell yeah. He likes this picture.“

As the split continued, Xander went behind the green in a golf cart. Location: What number. 9, 10 or 11 on the way to victory. He was holding the Wanamaker Trophy in his hand and the stone cracked in his mind.