Report: Xander Schauffele's father drops LIV Golf bombshell
Xander Schauffele's father Stefan has dismissed the idea his son would soon be joining LIV Golf after he won the 2024 PGA Championship at Valhalla.
Xander Schauffele's father Stefan has dismissed the idea his son will soon be joining LIV Golf in the aftermath of his maiden major victory.
Over the last two years whenever a PGA Tour player has landed a major championship title it has led to frenzied speculation they would soon hot-foot it to the breakaway tour after gaining long-term exemptions into the big four.
Who knows, but maybe Jon Rahm and Cameron Smith would still be members of the PGA had the Spaniard not clipped the 2023 Masters and the Australian not broken Rory McIlroy's heart at St. Andrews two years ago.
So is Schauffele, 30, more susceptible to a move away given his PGA Championship victory at Valhalla?
Absolutely not.
Related:
At least, that's according to his pops, who told GOLF: "The opposite would probably be closer to the truth."
Stefan said his son's team spoke to LIV about a potential switch but the two big stumbling blocks were the lack of world ranking points and the fact there was no guaranteed path back to the PGA Tour.
Stefan said: "What we told LIV in Saudi Arabia, with Xander beside me, was that if there is no path back to the PGA Tour and if there is no chance at world ranking points we do not have anything to talk about.
"Even if you throw hundreds of millions of dollars at him. That word still stands. I am not called The Ogre without reason. I keep my word."
Ordinarily, you would believe Stefan but the aforementioned Rahm previously spoke at length about how much legacy meant to him before he joined LIV last December for a reported half a billion dollars.
Rahm previously said millions of dollars wouldn't change how he lived his life with his wife Kelley one bit.
Stefan also told the publication he watched his son's major championship victory 4,400 miles away in a shipping container.
He's overseeing the construction of a 'family compound' in Kaui, Hawaii.
Stefan did not watch Schauffele's nine-under 62 that saw him vault to the top of the leaderboard last Thursday.
But he watched the final round and burst out into tears when that birdie putt dropped.
He also claimed he wasn't nervous watching him line it up.
"I thought, if he he misses it, Bryson gets another chance and then he whacks him in a playoff."
For his part, Schauffele said he called his dad quickly before hoisting the Wanamaker Trophy aloft but he had to hang up because he could feel himself welling up.
Of his father, he told reporters in his post-victory news conference: "My dad is actually -- he's referred to as The Ogre, but he's a big teddy bear.
"Steve Stricker wins a tournament and he's crying. My dad is sitting there right on the couch crying with him. That's the kind of guy he is."
Read next:
