Relief and exhaustion. Those were the two feelings overwhelming Xander Schauffele minutes after winning the PGA Championship, the first Major of his career. Relief at proving that yes, he is capable of closing the victory in a major, that he is capable of completing a job that so many other times resisted him in the past. Exhaustion because it has cost him a lot to reach the finish line.
There is also a lot of pride. No one better than him knows how difficult it is to win a Major. Very few are more aware than him of what it costs to make the decisive putt. That’s why, on the 18th, when he saw the birdie putt go in to win with a one-shot lead over Bryson DeChambeau, he was overwhelmed with happiness. “I’m very satisfied and tired. It’s a whirlwind of emotions,” he summarised.
For Schauffele, one of the keys has been to be aware at all times of what was happening. In the past, the Californian golfer preferred not to look at the scoreboards, to focus only on his game, but not today. He wanted to know where he was and what was happening around him. “I stayed very patient. I was constantly looking at the leaderboard. I wanted to be aware of everything. I wanted to know exactly where I was. I wanted to face my feelings, whatever was going through my head,” he assured.
In this obsession with living the moment, Schauffele came to remember what had happened to him in the past when the bogey on the 10th came. Instead of repressing the negative memory, he faced it and took it as a challenge. “I’ve had that feeling other times of being at a decisive moment and not being able to make the putt. Today when the 10th happened and I had the two birdie putts on the 11th and 12th I told myself exactly that: “it’s not going to happen to me today, it’s not my turn”, he emphasised.
As for the 18th hole, Schauffele couldn’t choose a better way to win. The satisfaction has multiplied by a thousand by conquering his first Major by making the decisive putt to win on the last hole. If the door had to be knocked down, let it be that way. “I knew I had to make a birdie on the last hole looking at the leaderboard. I had to make the birdie no matter what. I told myself that no one was going to give it to me, that I had to earn it, I had to prove to myself that it was my time and I could do it. I admit it was a bit of a hectic birdie, but it was incredible,” he concluded.
