With Xander Schauffele’s first major championship victory came a slew of congratulatory texts. From family. From friends. From members of the media. And, undoubtedly, from that text chain he’s on that was roasting Scottie Scheffler over his mug shot earlier in the week at the PGA Championship.
But one message in particular stood out. Because it came from a 15-time major champ.
One of the perks of establishing himself as one of the best American golfers over the past few years is Schauffele becoming friends with Tiger Woods. As we’ve seen in both stints as a Ryder Cup vice captain and Presidents Cup captain, Woods has enjoyed taking some of these young guys under his wing. And he offered some sage words to the newly minted major champion.
Schauffele shared the nice message on this week’s episode of the Golf’s Subpar Podcast. (You can listen to the exchange at the 24:35 mark.)
“He texted me, you 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.”
That’s awesome, alright. Both the message and the fact that Xander is close enough to Tiger to call him T-Dub. That AND a major championship? Yep, Xander (“Xandsy”?) has really made it to the big time now.
