Support for this podcast comes from Progressive, a leader in RV Insurance. We've all made RVing mistakes like not pestproofing the RV for winter, but there's one mistake you shouldn't make, not ensuring your travel trailer. Progressive RV Insurance can protect your travel trailer when your auto or home insurance can. Get a quote at Progressive.com, progressive cash routine insurance company and affiliates. [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] The glad girl grew coming at you with a throwback jam. That was glad for his flexed drawstring trash vacs featuring pine salt original scent. And that's better than all good, it's all glad. [MUSIC] >> Dude, that smiley coffin for 61, wow. >> I'm smiley coffin, and this is The Smiley Show. >> All right guys, welcome back to another episode of The Smiley Show. This one we've been teasing, and he's here. Senator Schoffle, a two-time major champion, nine-time PGA tour winner, and now a professional mover, it seems like you got your moving outfit on and moved to Juke. How's that treating you today? >> Yeah, thanks for having me. I figured I had to win a few more events before I can come on your guys' show. >> [LAUGH] >> But yeah, the movie's real. We're trying to move into a new home here in Jupiter, and it's been a process, to say the least. Oh my gosh, man, there's nothing worse. It's great when you finally get settled in, but it does take some time. And I actually talked to one of my Juke boys before this episode, and he gave me a little bit of insight. I was like, hey man, you got anything on Xander we can bring out? He's like, you need to ask him about, he's a very deliberate eater. And I'm gonna give you the opportunity to potentially explain or defend yourself, because I was told it's slow. Do you? >> My gosh. >> Where do you live on this fence? >> Is this JT? >> I don't know. It could be. >> Rick? I've had more meals with JT than Rick probably, but it could be PC too. I don't even know who you try to talk to. >> Yes. >> I don't know. I don't know. We're gonna get in my eating habit. I haven't told. It's a great quality to have since I'm actually chewing my food. >> Mm-hmm. >> Inside the freaking hog on my food like Jordan Speed. >> Dude, that's bad. >> He gets it out quick, don't he? >> He plates to my one. I'll end up eating two plates, but it'll be like an hour later probably. >> Is there, it's just science behind it? Just make sure you choose slow, you digest slow. Are you just taking your sweet time? >> Maybe I just don't shut up. I just keep talking. But I, I've always been a kind of a slow eater. There's some variance there. You know, certain tournaments when you're ending at like 7 p.m. and you're going, it's like that, I, I dread those nights because I have to just slug food and then try to go to bed and it's the worst. >> Yeah. You're just, just trying to like have any sense of mental thought and now you're got a fork and a big old plate of food and you're just trying to get an adult down. I, I get it. I get it. So we're not gonna judge you here. I just wanted to have an opportunity for you to potentially defend yourself here. >> Just do judging, not gonna lie. >> And I was actually thinking about textured any other day about this because I was going on a bachelor party and I was the person that was supposed to go get cigars and I am not, I'm not a cigar guy. I don't even know where to start. And I don't have a cigar guy to text. But I think you, you're the cigar guy. Like do you, are you, do people text you all the time about like what, what cigars to get? Are you somebody that just smokes one type of cigar? Because you kind of, you kind of had a lot of experience lately with cigars. >> I mean, I'll smoke anything. >> Yeah. >> There you go. >> I put some context behind that. I should say. >> The starters. The whistling straight, someone literally just tossed me a cigar. I'm like a plastic. It was like, I don't know. Like a six dollar cigar and just call it from the golf cart and let that thing rip. And then, I don't know if I always smoke cigars or I was always around people who smoke cigars. >> Sick to smell. >> So I actually, it's like a nostalgic smell to me. So, you know, and then growing up, you know, seeing MJ always celebrating smoking cigars, that kind of, that kind of hit home. So I thought, you know, no better way to celebrate something. And then, you know, when you win with your team, if you're able, if enough guys like smoking cigars, which most of them do. >> You got them on the train, haven't you? >> Well, you got to get around it first. >> Yeah, you definitely do. You definitely do. And that's, that's part of the celebration. And the older we get, the better that pairs up with bourbon at the end of the night. So, all good stuff. And at the home, we tell us the time you came on the show. This was like a five minute thing before you teed off in the first tee at Eastlake this year. And we briefly talked about your French bulldog and Aussie Wabredoodle. Have they made the adjustment? >> They are, my French is right here next to me. He got into, at the rental property, he got into something the other night and something stung him in the face. So, his eyes have been, I mean, he's got a weird guy. >> Poor guy. >> I think there's just more things you can get into here in Florida versus on the West Coast. You know what I mean? >> Yeah. >> Snakes, alligators. >> What's going on in Florida? >> Yeah. >> Toads. >> Yeah, Toads. >> Yeah. >> Lots to take in. >> It's a. >> We're out here in the world. >> Definitely so. Well, what's, what's kind of get into the beginning of this interview, which is, you know, I didn't know really where to kind of begin in this. But college seemed like to me a great place to start because everyone knows you, obviously, as a second ranked player of the world, you know, two-time major champion. And we know that just didn't happen overnight. And you're the class of 2011 guy. I went to San Diego State. But the one thing that I did learn in this is that you weren't at San Diego State all these years. You started a long beach state. How, how has this been, it hasn't been covered. I didn't even know this. >> Yeah. I, I went to Long Beach State my freshman year. I signed up with Ryan Ressa, who works for Tanner right now. And I, I, there's all these colleges I could have, I could have gone to. I mean, I wasn't really good, but I was, I was a pretty good player going into college. And, you know, just like, whenever you go through the levels, no coaches really know if you're it or not. So, I ended up going to Long Beach State my first year. My dad and I figured it's really important for me to play tournaments and not like a few was like. I think that's when they made it to like quarters at Riviera. So they were ranked like eight in the nation. And it was a huge concern to not get any playing time because everyone was so good and everyone was so much older. So my dad and I, we literally picked the school where he thought I would start every event just so I can get some experience. And then I ended up paying off pretty well. So I go to Long Beach State, Ressa leaves after three months. I'm heartbroken. I still give a guess. I don't want to range today. I can even crap for it. Would you, would you, would you have stayed there all four years if he didn't leave? Potentially. Yeah. I mean, I, you know, my dad was my swing coach at that time and, and Derek was my, I just started working with Derek when I went to SDSU. So I basically just had my dad and it was an hour and a half drive. So I felt like it was far enough away, but close enough for me to get the work in that I needed if I needed to go home. So he ended up leaving them after three tournaments. I ended up transferring back home. And then, you know, I'm closer to my dad, closer to family. Right. And then I started working with Derek. When I was at SDSU, sort of my junior or senior year, which, which helped me a lot. And then the rest is history. So it was a slow, it was a slow, steady drip. I didn't really. Right. Like when a lot of college tournaments, you know, had the likes of, I mean, shoot, you know, the 2011 class, it's, it's insane. It's, it's easy to get forgotten in that class. If we just start with like the top three or four names. So I kind of just kept my head down. I knew that I was on a slower trajectory, slower path. And that was always my mentality sort of in college. Like, I'm going to take every single year to try and get better. I went to school my senior year, missed second stage by six shots. Went back to school my senior year because I was like, I am not ready for this. My cat, Austin Kaiser, we played together there. So I ended up picking him up to loop for me. You're out of college. And then it was, it was go from there. Yeah. And I think it was a smart decision to go and play at Long Beach. Say you, you refreshment of the year, first, first team, all big West. And then San Diego State, though, you said you're, you know, you're consistent. But you know, 27 total top 10s and 19 top five is pretty nice solid in college. That's, that's a guy that, that knows what he's doing. You won three times. But what describe me is Andrew Shoffley, the college golfer. Because we know Zander now is five tool player, not many weaknesses at all. But the college player, where, where are their weaknesses? Uh, yeah, short game for sure. I mean, it was, it would creep in. I mean, I, I would be the kid to hit 16 or 17 degrees and shoot, you know, one under something like that. So, um, learning how to score better. I'd say I would like classify myself as like more of a raw player. Like I, I would always try and hit it really hard for how small I was. I always worked really hard. That was, I mean, that's sort of where the college mentality was, was red for me. Like no, no one's going to work harder than me. So obviously I skipped a lot of class, but I'd always go practice. It wasn't because I was like out drinking, because I was going to go practice. So, um, that was my, my commitment there. I'm a little frustrated with the All-American committee though, because when I look at you, you know, breaking the scoring average at San Diego State, your senior year, and your 13 All-American, like can we, can we like write a letter to the All-American committee? Like why 13? It was better than that. Uh, I just, that's, and it's a whole chip on the shoulder thing. It all started way back there. You know, it's just, it's a small school. So I kind of learned how this stuff works. You know, the Palmer cups, the Walker cups. I was never, I just kept telling myself, you know, you're not good enough. Like if you were good enough, you would have qualified for these teams. Like you're such a fringe guy, and you're just, no one knows who the heck you are. You know what I mean? Um, so I respect for the center shop. I know respect for the mountain west. What do we do with your guys? I mean, no. It's all good. I think, I think SCC basketball put, put them out and, you know, put them out. Yeah, it definitely did. It definitely did. It's like a, you know, championship, championship run there, um, to, to showcase that. But, you know, that's, that's what, that's what I had to do. Yeah. And you were in that crazy class of 2011. And there was so many great names that have come out of this class. You know, Jordan, JT, yourself, uh, the list goes on and on of other players that didn't, did not make it. But when you turned pro, did you feel like you had something to prove, um, to not only yourself, but maybe how you stacked up against the rest of the class? Um, I mean, the, the, the chip is always there on the shoulder. But, uh, turning pro, I mean, you remember it's, it was really scary. Like the whole idea is just scary because I think even no matter. No matter how good of a player you are, you kind of turned pro. And then Q school is the most stressful thing ever. You know, yeah. And then like it's just gotten harder now too. Like there used to be like 31 guys at first stage. And then like, I think my site was like 18 guys or 16 guys at second stage. And now it's not 21, 21 and 45 or 35, whatever, 40 or whatever it is. So for me, it was like 31, one through first, 18, one through second and then 45 and ties. So I failed the first time. I went, I won both first and second, my second attempt. And I'm like, dude, I'm cruising. And then I get to final stage in Florida. And I'm freaking out because I'm a West coast kid on Bermuda. And I end up Stephen Fox still thinking to this day. He missed a fun on the last hole to let me and like six other guys in a tied 45th. What? And that's how I got my card. So like you talk about feeling like you need to prove something. Oh my gosh. It taught me survival pretty quickly. Where was that a key school at that final stage? On the classic. Oh, you and I both played it there. I didn't. Yes. Yes. Was it six rounds for you too? No, it was four for me. Luckily, I did six. It was, it was such a dang grind. Yes. I missed my shot or two. And it was, I remember getting home to wherever I was staying. And I just sat there in the car for like an hour and a half and it was just brainless. I had no activity going on. All that for that. All that for that. The famous Peter Monnoti corn fairy tour quote from it was boy. No, it was actually in Portland on the 11th hole. And so might as well go to the corn fairy because we made it. You made the corn fairy tour. You were there just a year. And I think a lot of people would think, Oh, yeah. Xander was on the corn fairy, you know, breeze right through. But when you go back and look at it, you were the bubble boy. You were number 26 did not get your card missed out by nine hundred dang dollars where you just dying on the inside. Luckily, there was corn fairy, corn fairy tour finals, I should say, on the back end. But the immediate feeling right after a long season where you're playing is more golf than you've ever played where you're just like, man, that close. So interesting. I was so giddy. I think when you look at, if you just look at the year, it's like, Oh, you've been, he lost his card or he didn't get his tour card by nine hundred dollars. But to me, it was like, I was like a hundred and I made 20 grand up until like the last five events. Oh, wow. So you really gave yourself an opportunity. Wait. I'm saying, holy smokes, thank goodness I have four more events. I mean, I was, you know, Kaiser and I were in motel rooms and I'm just trying not to show him how much I'm losing it inside because he's making more money than me. And I can't float myself, you know, like this, that's where my head was at. It was like a, he would only come on the road because he didn't have any money either. It was like, he was coming on the road to help me and, you know, yeah, I had to float him, pay for his rooms, travel like the whole thing and it was like a I am, I am drowning right now. Okay. When you say that, I still remember like the one shit, like the most important shot that I hit that got me over the hump to where I was now safe on the corn ferry tour to where I wasn't worried about going back to Q school. Was there a shot for you that you hit on the corn ferry during that last little four week stretch before the end of the end of the year? The stretch just was like, it started to become really comfortable. I was like, I started, I think I had like two, three top five finishes, which just like catapulted me forward. I didn't win anything, but it was like, I just started to, I seriously hit this effort button where I was like, dude, I'm, I am losing my mind. I was missing cuts by one, like trying my heart through and missing cuts by one. So those are the moments where I was like, you know, someone told me, if you're really angry, try to rip a towel in half in your hotel room, it is impossible to do that. It is impossible. 100%. I would, I would actually just opt in for the front of the car, you know, when I get into it, just bang the dashboard. That was, that was my deal. Now, it wasn't for everybody and I'm sure I'm sure I paid a bill along the way, a frustration from how a hard professional golf can be special, but no, I can't remember like a specific shot. It was like election of three or four events and then really close on the last at an organ. And I, I didn't birdie the last hole. I like 90 degree lipped out my last putt to birdie to like get me to 24 or 23rd or whatever, or 22nd. And then I fell to 26 and sat around for like six hours and it wasn't even, wasn't even faced. I was like, this is it. Like I'm happy to be here. Like I'm moving forward. Like I'm going to get my card here in a couple of weeks. You know, at least it's, it's nice that they had that app opportunity back then. Now, corn fairy tour finals isn't a thing. Cards keep you on getting cut down. So it's getting a little more cutthroat now for that corn fairy tour. For sure. Um, well, you do get your PGA tour card and I actually have a great video here because this video drove me crazy because this is a nappa. This is technically your third PGA tour star, but your first as a member. And I'm trying to work on my golf swing and showing a face on video. But in the background, here's first start of their PGA tour career, Xander Schofle in the background. And you know how much this video drove me crazy because I am, I'm looking at my swing and that I can't stop looking at yours. Cause I'm like, what the heck? How does he get his left arm? It's such a good spot. And it just drove me crazy. And then you get the cash, cash machine of Jason bone behind you. And now I'm like all messed up. I'm like, what do I need to work on? What a video. I was like, dude, that looks like that's 100% you when you started that. Yep. Yep. That's me in the blue. That's you behind your swings a little longer from what I can remember. Yeah. Like it almost gets past parallel there. Yeah. But if you really watch at the beginning of this video, watch Kaiser. This guy, a first PGA tour member start, cannot keep the head cover on the back. Guys just losing it over here. Oh, man. He's come a long way. My dad there too. Yeah. We got the whole crew right there. That's funny. Look at that. He's trying to keep the head cover on and was going to watch where the golf ball went. And there goes the head cover. Definitely a lot. Definitely a lot slimmer. I can tell you that. Well, you, you made the cut that week. I actually went to the vineyards on the weekend. They didn't let me play at the weekend. So you got to a nice start compared to my, my, my second start of the PGA tour calendar. But support for this podcast comes from progressive, a leader in RV insurance. We've all made RVing mistakes like not pest proofing the RV for winter, but there's one mistake you shouldn't make, not ensuring your travel trailer. Progressive RV insurance can protect your travel trailer when your auto or home insurance can. Get a quote at progressive.com, progressive cash routine insurance company and affiliates. Ryan Reynolds here from it mobile with the price of just about everything going up during the inflation. We thought we'd bring our prices down. So to help us, we brought in a reverse auctioneer, which is apparently a thing. Mid mobile unlimited. Premium wireless. Have it to get 30, 30, 30, 30, 30, 20, 20, 20, 20, 20, 20, 20, 50, 15, 15, 15, 15, just 15 bucks a month. So give it a try at midmobile.com/switch $45 up from payment equivalent to $15 per month. New customers on first three month plan only taxes and fees extra speeds lower above 40 gigabytes. You eventually got it going because throughout the year, you know, I'm looking at the FedEx Cup and I'm seeing where you rank and it's like, okay, I thought, you know, in a year where we finished third in the FedEx Cup that he was a little closer than a hundred thirty fifth heading into the US Open at Aaron Hills. But listen, here we are again, just like the corn fairy tour. You're out of it and it was one event, like a top five to get you going. But I mean, Aaron Hills had to be the event where it's had to approve so much to yourself. It's like, I can do this and I want some more of it. Yeah, I was, I remember finishing Sanderson was like an off a secondary event and I played really well there. I actually finished like fifth and so like ending the year, I was like, man, I'm a rookie. Like finally, I'm off to a decent start and I don't know what happened mentally, but it was like a, okay, like I finished decent, like I've made 200 grand now. Like I feel much more secure than I did on the corn fairy and then the new year starts and I remember, I think it got sick in the winter. I come back my speeds way down. I'm a rookie. I'm having a meltdown and I can't figure it out. I'm not willing to make the adjustments and I just go in this spiral for like a while and I just start falling in the FedEx rank and I'm like, this is literally what people talk about. Full blown. This is my nightmare. It was. And I didn't remember. Yeah, 135th sounds right. So it's a weird spot. Like a kid, you've made some money, you're not safe at all, but you feel safer. So it's like a really weird feeling for you to come off the corn fairy. Like 200 grand is like winning frickin three events. You know what I mean? Yeah. I get to the Monday qualifier and it was sick. It was for Aaron Hills in Wisconsin. I get to play 36 holes with Steve Stricker and this is kind of where my pro career kicked off in my head. I'm like, I get to play with Steve Stricker who's going to bust his ass and qualify for this US Open. Like nothing's going to stop him and it was so cool to watch him play in the way he played because he got off to kind of a mellow start and then he just like he was 36 holes and he was, you know, he won over maybe even through like 11 holes and then all of a sudden he just goes on this frickin tear and I'm sitting there. I'm like, holy shit, you know what I mean? Like I'm sitting there crying if I don't get off to a good start, all of these things. So that was such an important day. I ended up going into a playoff like a six for four playoff the next morning. I ended up playing like 40 holes on toast, but Stricker pulled me aside after we signed cards and you know, gave me some really nice words saying you're going to make like you are so good. I don't think you realize how good you are. You're going to be incredible. Like just stay focused and don't let anything bother you. And I ended up getting through the Monday. I go and I get to Aaron Hills and all of a sudden we're on this, you know, I play Memphis. Don't even play great. Super terrifying water everywhere. It's still terrifying now. Yeah. Go to go to Aaron Hills. It's like wide open. There was our 50 yards across like just bomb driver on every hole. And I was like, okay, like I can just lash out here and I just I finished fifth. I was super nervous coming down the stretch. And then the next week was my moment where I secured my card was at the travelers. I finished like tied 14th or something or 13th and I secured my card and all of a sudden it was like this, you know, kumbaya moment where I was so relaxed and so just biggest weight off my shoulders. I'm working Greenbrier and I just win. Like I don't even I'm so relaxed. That was three weeks later. You were there. Three weeks later. Yeah. And do you remember who you see that week right before the right before Thursday? Myself, you and Kaiser are fly fishing off of the second hole because I remember, you know, it was just me out there and then all of a sudden you two show up and I didn't know you guys at the time. It was just like, Hey, I know your name type of deal, but you guys were having much more luck fly fishing than I was. I was my first time doing it and I tell you what, it looked like some of the high yas I've hit in my day because it was a tough scene trying to get the rhythm down. We also, we also were, I mean, you're being so kind to not reveal what we did. We brought a spinner, a spinning reel out. Oh, you did bring a spinner. That's right. We're not supposed to have. We actually got yelled at by staff. We were under the bridge hiding, just like, no idea what I'm doing. I think we had big wave Dave. He was on Campbell's back at the time. And I think he was, we would all, there's three of us and in order to use a spinner under the bridge, it was like fishing with dynamite. So we had one of us sitting out there, just, it looked like we're fly fishing while two of us were sitting there, catching everything. Those rainbow chirile, man, those things were so fun to catch. Right. I would finish the round, go straight to fly fish, but I totally forgot you guys at a spinner. That is so good. You were cheating. Yeah. You were definitely cheating. We got yelled at for it too. It's not allowed. But you, but you won though. Like how sick was that? You wanted to take PGA tour that week? Super blackout. Yeah. Like the, the, to just run through the events really quick, it was, I am in this like, such a ho-hum place. I move forward. I'm in the playoffs. Holy smokes. I'm in the playoffs. I'm in the winners category now and playing the last couple of events of the year. I'm not teeing off at like 3 p.m. anymore. This is before we could tap down spike marks folks. Remember this. Like the last part of the waves, it used to suck because you just basically, you got no chance. You're never going to finish your round. Yeah. Yeah. Especially for it to get dark really quick. So at least you could play like five holes in the morning with nice dreams. Yeah. Exactly. And then go to the BMW. I remember I was in a good spot to get into the East Lake. Didn't really know what it all meant to be completely honest. I was four, three or four over making the turn at Conway Farms and again, like this thing clicked in where I just was like, I remember playing with Stricker. I was like, it's never too late to do something. And I ended up shooting six under my last nine holes and it was like in a ridiculous way. I hit a par four and two, made an eagle. I was making like a different random 30 footer. On the last hole, I was a par five, back right pin. There's like a bleacher really close to the green. I like nuke a wedge like one hops in the rough off the bleacher onto the green to like tap it. Stop it. I swear. Stop it. Where was this? I Conway Farms. It's Conway Farms. BMW. And I ended up shooting, you know, I'm like three or four over turn, shoot six under. I shoot two under to move up and I end up like finishing like 20, I don't know, 20 second or something. And I get into Eastlake. And I'm like, do you like that golf course, Eastlake? It's been kind of me. Yeah. The new one, not kind of me. We're still, we're still working out a relationship here a few more times to figure it out. But the place has been pretty friendly to me for, for West Coast kid. You know, yeah, that's, that's interesting, right? Like you grew up on the West Coast Bermuda, I'm sure it's something that like took a long time. You mentioned your short game at the beginning that that's something that's taken a bit. So I imagine chipping on grainy Bermuda was something that was not quite as easy for you. But your rookie or dude, like, I don't know why I don't remember this. Like, as a rookie, dude, like you're one thirty fifth, like we just talked about this. And now he like, you win the stroke play event in the tour championship. You finished third in the FedEx cup rankings and it's like, holy crap, man, how did we get here? Yeah. It's just, I mean, talk about getting hot is basically what happened, you know, it was like a, you look at all pros, they kind of, for a long time, you know, I really believe summer was my time, like, you're the summer soldier kid, like this is where you're going to, like, shine. So I haven't really looked at all of my, you know, my golf and my stats and everything on times of year, but I do know, like golfers definitely, you know, when you get hot, you really have to take advantage of it because you don't, you know, when you're playing good golf, you know, you're playing good golf and yeah, you just really have to start stacking good shot after good shot and getting, getting some sort of flow and not let anyone play out of it. Yeah. And I would imagine as a guy who just won as a rookie at the tour championship, your third now expectations change, right? Like you just went from being a player that would have been happy to have their car the next year. So now it's like, okay, like I just beat the best players in the world and I want to continue to beat them. Did you like change your expectations or did you go to and say like, I need to get better at X. And a lot of times, Daniel players, when they go try to get better at something, they get worse. But it seems like, you know, that that didn't phase you too much. It I didn't want my expectations to change. I don't think people, it's such a subconscious thing. I mean, they changed, you know, crying about crying about, you know, feeling sorry for myself playing pork off. And then I went twice and then I don't win again for, or I mean, I played well through a certain spot, but like, think, you know, I was in my honeymoon phase of professional golf. And then I didn't win for like two years after 18, I think. Yeah. And it was completely because I was, I was like, Oh, I'm, you know, this isn't that hard. Like I'm, you know, I'm pretty good at this. Like I can do this, you know what I mean? Yeah. It's good to have that sort of mentality. But at the same time, it was not that I wasn't working hard. I just want to get into tournaments, you know, I was being too aggressive, was just expecting things to go my way, all those small stuff that you definitely need to learn. And you know, I didn't really have the opportunity to learn on the corn farad just because I had such a late run. And then I did it my rookie or again, like I was like, it was either zero or a hundred. Like I was never mid you need to grind it out. It was like, you're incredible. So I learned a lot of that sort of into my, into my second third year on tour. And again, to people don't ever talk about being a rookie, you, you play a rookie schedule. You know, I think I traveled 34 weeks, my rookie year played 30 or 31 events. I was in first alternate three events, didn't get in. And then my second year I win, I'm in the winners category. Now I'm playing different tournaments. I didn't play. And then my third year, I, now my rankings high enough, I'm playing WGCs that I've never played either. So I was like, I'm playing new majors, like not fully learning. So like my first three years on tour felt like three rookie seasons almost. That's interesting. And we're not going to dive like too much into every single one of these years. But what I do want to highlight is 2018 to 2021, you know, these, when you go and look at Wikipedia's Andrew Schofle major record, it's, it's pretty dang impressive what you were able to do between that time period, eight top 10s, five top fives. And when you look at that stretch, right, like you just talked about how you ran into a victory at the Greenbrier and tour championship, you know, you get hot at the right time during that stretch of golf for those four years, right? Like did you feel like that you were, you know, missing any aspect to just not get over the hump, like a technical, was it mental, just experience because you were still playing incredible dang golf during that time period. Yeah, I felt like my mentality sort of being in the dirt for such a long time, just trying to grind out each shot. Every time I miss the cut, I mean, I, I've never made, I can comfortably say I've never mailed an internment ever. It's just not who, it's just not in my DMA is just how my dad raised me. I just, if I'm five off the cut line, I'm trying to make the cut with six holes of play, like, and even if I don't get there, I'm already trying to work on something for the next week because I don't want to waste any moment in a tournament setting, like it's just not how I operate. So I think all those moments helped me big in the majors because every hole, the cool cliche thing about, like, every hole is its own tournament. One shot at a time, like, that's such major golf. It's not even funny. Like, that's exactly how major golf is, it's like situational awareness. Oh my gosh, it's insane, you know. And so I think that really helped me early on in major. It just, the matchup was there for, for me at a, at a young age, even, and then for major golf, because it was every hole is so freaking hard. It's okay to make a double bogey sometimes, as long as you weather the storm, you can pry your way in and you'll still be in, like, 14, not like a, you know, shooter, right, you know, you're too over and now you're freaking 12 back. It's like, it's just, it's just different, completely different mentality. And in those four years, was there a moment or a situation that you look back on where you think, man, if I, if I just would have been a little bit more aware of how close I was and how easily the Zander Shoffaway now could have closed out that major championship? Yeah, a little bit, but I felt like I, you really, you're not going to luck your way into a major, I think. You have to have all the shots. You have to be super comfortable hitting the shots under the gun. You got to make important putts, like, you got to hit a certain distance. I had a lot of it, but I don't think I was really as good as I was mentally at that time. I don't think I was ready mentally either, like not picturing yourself being a major champion. Was it more that? I was still trying to prove myself. I didn't really know what it all meant, and I was always like, you know, everyone's telling me, oh, you're, you're going to win a major soon because you've been playing so well in them. And I'm like, yeah, I mean, I just feel like I'm playing my game. Like, I don't really feel like I'm doing anything more or less. Yeah. I just match up really well in the majors. And it was definitely like a, I wasn't sitting there at every night trying to imagine myself holding trophy, you know, at the age of 22, it just wasn't like my game was, wasn't incredible. The short game wasn't great enough to clean up, had to be too perfect off the team into the greens. I don't think I was chipping well enough to compete at a higher level, very much a, you know, mid high level, but not the highest level. So it was some small stuff. And so we've talked about those four years, 18 to 21. So let's talk about 22 and 23. And you look at the major records in those years, I see, you know, besides one miss cut, you were between 10th place and 18th place in all of those major championships. And SK over here would have been absolutely thrilled for one of those. But I imagine after a stretch of golf that you just played the prior four years where you're in the top five, you're in contention, you have a chance to win, you know, 10th 18th, that's just kind of hanging out on Sunday, like just trying to like work your way inside the top 10. When you finished 23, was there frustration of how you performed in the major championships? And did that lead you to wanting to improve and make changes? Yeah, I was already kind of going through a little bit of a coming out of COVID. My, like, my swing was like, even from that video you sent in 17, 18, my swing was much different than it got coming out of COVID. Like I was like, I'm working with Chris now, but it's, and it led me to work with Chris because my swing was getting very like flat shoulders, very laid off, it was going like a different direction. I was playing a lot of these little like par for San Diego courses during COVID when I was living there. And a lot of like low like scared fades where you're kind of, you know, I was, and it wasn't doing it well. I was doing it because I got that shot. I got that shot. Yeah. And I was kind of across it, trying to squeeze it and then like all of a sudden it like bled into my game and I was trying to hit my wedges better because my wedges were bad, but then I started hitting my driver terrible. I mean, it's like the classic. You said it earlier. You want to get better at something and it made my entire like long game terrible, became a really good wedge player, but made my long game really bad. I didn't know how to marry the two. So it was definitely frustrating, but I wasn't as frustrated with my result as I was with how I felt about my game. Like my support for this podcast comes from progressive, a leader in RV insurance. We've all made RVing mistakes like not pest proofing the RV for winter, but there's one mistake you shouldn't make, not ensuring your travel trailer. Progressive RV insurance can protect your travel trailer when your auto or home insurance care. Get a quote at progressive.com progressive cash routine insurance company and affiliates. the Glad Girl Group coming at you with a throwback jam. Glad Force flex drawstring trash bags feature in pine salt original synth and that's better than all good. It's all glad. Yeah. So how were you able to attack this with coma? You go in and he's, you know, very intelligent have how the body works and correct matchups. So you just talked about flat shoulders. So I did you try to steepen your shoulder plane a little bit and then try to get the club in a little bit more of a vertical position versus laid off vertical early. I mean, it was a nightmare. I mean, listen, last. Sounds like a nightmare. It was. I mean, Chris is great. I mean, I've known him. My buddy tried to seek his out his help and when he was in Dallas, shoot 12 years ago. So my first time ever like talk to Chris on FaceTime was literally maybe 11 to 13 years ago, maybe maybe 12 years ago. So known of him for a really long time, my, one of my really good buddies is it became pretty close with them. So he's always kind of been around and I've kind of talked to him here and there. Never too much about golf, but aware of what he was working on with my friend and things of that nature. Right. So yeah, definitely he like looked through all my swings of the last, everything that I could give him and try to see the patterns of, you know, when I was hitting it pretty good, when I was hitting it bad, where the matchups are, what my matchup could be. And yeah, what about what about speed with this? Did he help you come up with a speed program because you've obviously put on, you know, your ball speeds kind of made a pretty significant jump this year. Yeah. I think that was more, I mean, I don't know who to give more credit to. I've been asked that question a lot. I hired Chris and David Sunberg, who works with Pat Alex Narn and Jake Knapp now and he's in Florida. And I started working out way more like at tournament. It was my first time I've ever worked out at tournaments. I just kind of said F it like I need to work out at tournaments. Like I don't do it enough. So I was lifting weights. How many times would you lift weights during the tournament? I mean, if we could get like one heavy lift in and two other like kind of full body lifts and just for maintenance, we would. So I mean, I'm, you know, I'm sitting there lifting weights on, you know, Wednesday and not afraid that I'm going to be sore on Thursday. Right. If I am, like it's just part of part of what I'm trying to do because I'm trying to get better. Gotcha. Off seasons go short, you know, my, they do, David wants 12 weeks for my off season. I'm about to give him six weeks right now. I'm moving boxes, David. All good, man. I'm working on, you know, just some back extension. The club, the club being in a better place, I think helped the speed and then me being able to put more force into the club just from being generally stronger. So they both have the long and the speed. Yeah, the speed kind of just came and never really I've never done. I've been swung a speed stick to this day, if I've been with them in the last year and a half or two years, I've never missed a shot swinging a speed stick. I can tell you that. Well, on this podcast, this is back at Bay Hill this year. I was watching you probably two or three of those days, I guess I was walking with your group. And I remember thinking to myself that I've never seen Zander have to like try to get into positions quite as hard as he's trying to right now. He's really thinking over the golf ball. And I could tell that it was whatever you were trying to do was not easy. And I told Charlie this was like the fact that he's like playing good golf with how hard he's having to work is pretty dang impressive. So whenever he gets comfortable with this, like it's going to be really dang good. For you, when did you feel like you could finally let off, you know, take your hands off the steering wheel a little bit and just feel like, you know, the body knows what it's going to do. And mentally that you're able to do it. That's a really good catch. Only a player would know that what we're going through here. And it was like maximum like grind to there's water on. I mean, it's such a scary place. So like hit your driver. I mean, don't you tell me, you're like, Oh, it's a dog way left left right wind and there's a frickin hazard all left, you know, the wind on six this year was a nightmare. It was a, it was a nightmare is in off the left every day off the tee. Yeah. Yeah. Anything, anything, any yard left of your line and you're in the hazard. It's like sweet. White toe ball. You're in the hazard. It doesn't matter. So I'll end up provisional. All good. Yes. Crossed. But it was quite hollow. Yeah. Bay Hill was maximum grind, uncomfortable. Just trying to, if I hit it in the hazard, I hit in the hazard, like whatever, like, you know, I believe I trust Chris, like I think he's telling me the right stuff on the range I can do it. It's not really showing up on course because I'm not exaggerating enough. So quill hollow was the first time where I was kind of exaggerating in the move and I'll start. I'm starting to hit some shots. I know I lost a Rory by a million, but he would have beaten everybody by a million that day the way he played. It was close for a little bit, you know, it was a stretch where I was within one or two, maybe or three. Yeah. Like, didn't you equal six or something like that? The four five. I think he equaled 10. Oh, I thought maybe you like had a big moment, like on six now. Eagle six. Yeah. That's what I was saying. Yeah, part of it, I think. Yeah. Or maybe bird, I can't remember. I don't matter. I don't matter. He wanted to buy a lot at the end. I have something. So, but I was starting to hit some shots at quill, I'm like, dang, I feel like I haven't hit these shots in a long time or maybe even ever. Mm hmm. So that's kind of when it started to click in my head and I know I got smoked and I was not happy coming up the last, but I was super excited because Valhalla was next week. Yeah. And I heard that Valhalla is very much, if there's a course on tour that's close to Valhalla, it's Quail Hollow. So, I was jazzed and I was just trying to focus on what was up ahead, not what just happened. And that seemed to pay off quickly. Yeah, because you went on and shot 60 nothing the first round because I was doing an outing on 18 and they just kept on updating your board and I was just like, is that a? Yeah. Okay. Sanders playing good today. So we definitely got to a good start and you were tied for the lead heading into the final round and just another opportunity to go try to win a major championship. Did you feel as comfortable maybe in that position that you've had maybe to that point in your career? Yeah. I think I've touched up on that spot. Maybe I wasn't leading before, but I've been in the hunt at some point of a major championship sort of enough times and I finally felt like my game was elevated enough across the board to where as long as I kind of keep my head on on straight, you know, bring some of that stricter magic from from that qualifier with me, like, I'm going to get this job done and that board was wild throughout the day too. I'm like lead and then I, you know, I had like a one shot lead and I wouldn't see a board for like three or four holes and all of a sudden I'm one back and I'm like, oh, this is wild. Oh my gosh, and well, the situation on 18, you knew exactly where you stood and as kids, right, we always talk about a putt to win a major championship from six feet away and you had it and was it easy for you to stay in your routine and was, were all the voices quiet in your head? They were, I was trying to control as many, all the voices that I could, just with not really the subconscious, but like just consciously trying to tell myself what to think pretty much. Yeah, what did you say? It's just like positive things around, you know, around the lines of like, see, seize the moment. Basically, like you've, you've, this is what you've wanted your entire life. You are in control of what's happening and that's all that you can do. And that's all I could seriously wish for. I always joke about what I really want is it to be extremely boring. I want to have a seven shot lead going up the, oh, why wouldn't we? Adam Sandler hockey stick this last hole and laugh about it with one hand. Like that's how much of a lead, but you got to earn that too. I still hope that happens at some point, but that was the most like rewarding, the whole thing on 18, you know, the adversity down the, like out of the bunker there. That chip for me is like, that would have costed me in the past, like hitting this like low bump up a hill that's driven kind of like a Bermuda shot where you're kind of stabbing it like, yeah, I have that shot like three years ago where at least comfortable. And so all these things kind of came together. And then like I was sitting over the pot, I was looking at the pot. I saw left edge when I walked up for my chip, then I got on the green, Colin went, then I was like, Oh my gosh, I see right edge. Oh God. What a nightmare. What a nightmare. I was like, it's six feet, you know, you're an incredible potter. It's six feet up the hill. Like you are statistically, unless you F this up, like you're like a 80% takeaway on this pot, like inside the whole six feet. I was like, just, and so that's why I didn't sit there and try and like, let the moment be too big. Just stay in your flow. Like don't sit here and like try and take more deep breaths. Like it's not going to change anything. So I kind of walked in and kind of went through it and of course my hands are shaking and of course I was in a reason. Yeah. Right. Right. Right. It left in. Yeah, it goes in. And, and, and I know in that moment, there was all the emotions, but when maybe you got into the car and you got the trophy sitting next to you, were the emotions? Was it more relief? You know, we just talked about a span of golf of major championships, where you're in contention, you didn't get it done. Or is it more just jubilation of just like, heck yeah, I did it. Like where were you? Metal space wise when you had time to actually reflect. Yeah, it was a little all over the place. It was immediate celebration, immediate, you know, hugs and tears from family and, and all that stuff was really like overwhelming at first. You know, I didn't really soak it until, I mean, we kind of, we had a few drinks at the place, drank out of the trophy and then by like, it's a lot of drinks out of that trophy. There's the ability for a lot for sure, there was ability for like, you need a, you need to bring me next time I can help out. Well, we would probably not have enough alcohol. There we go. There we go. About five a.m., I remember like my, my, my was already asleep. I'm like, I had to go, I had to go use the restroom. I remember getting back in front of the mirror and washing my hands and I just like, I'm looking at myself in the mirror at five a.m., so tired, but I just remember this, I was so fired up. I remember looking at myself just like you did. I, I frickin did it. I was like, you are a major champion, like this is real life. And I could, I was probably my like biggest moment I had to myself. And like, you know, just like everything, every other tournament, it's done. And then you just go to the next one, like, you just have to take what you can from it. And of course, I was jazz forever about it, but that was my big moment where I was like, frickin did a kid. Like this is what it's about. So I was, that was like my, my big one. I'd love to see the image of you in the mirror at five a.m. after a bunch of drinks. So you just, you painted the picture so greatly, but I, I kind of wanted to see what you actually looked like, you know, five a.m. after drinking. Exactly. It's like, yeah, I did it. Uh, well, there was another major championship and this is kind of right here at the end of this deal here in Zander is, uh, real true, uh, probably one of my most fager favorite major championships I've, I've ever been a part of. I love this golf course and, uh, it was such an interesting week. There was a good wave. There's a bad wave. I don't remember you being a part of necessarily the good wave. Is that correct? It ended up sort of leveling out because I was in the good, but then if you made the cut and teed off early, it was where the field was like this. And basically by time I teed off, it was like a guy shooting like six or seven under and then like, they were done and then the wind just started whipping up. So that's right. I was, you got rewarded, but there, I was definitely part of the good one. I believe it was such a crazy week and, you know, I, I was out there Sunday morning. I was falling. I think it was Phil's group. He was, you know, way out in front. They just wanted to walk her up there just to get a, uh, somebody on TV early and, you know, it was humming on Sunday. Like I was looking at the board, the foreunder was leading and I was, I was trying to figure out in my head, you know, what's going to win this tournament because I'm out on the back nine and remember that Saturday that back nine was the most insane back nine of all time. Like one of the hardest nine holes of golf of major championship history, I just witnessed what this back nine is, was like and now I'm out here a day later. And I'm like, I don't know how these guys are going to predict what the number is going to be. Have any sense of what it was going to take that day? I, I mean, I had a rough feeling just based on, I played, I know I shot really low score on Sunday relative, but Saturday was like Saturday was my day. I mean, it was ugly on Saturday and it was, I was able to shoot under par and I, it was like the perfect storm that I needed, like I needed a storm to come through to jump into contention. And then Sunday was sort of topping it off. But Saturday was my day. I mean, it was raining, it was windy, like balls are wet, your wet, like there's just no, no way to avoid it and so you didn't have it on Saturday and you, you were able to grind it out. No, I was playing. I played incredible. Oh, you played incredible. Sorry. Sorry. I miss heard you. No, I was locked in. I was just telling myself, when I got to Sunday in the back nine, I was like, dude Saturday was worse than this. Just get it in your head that this is easier. That's literally what I was telling myself because it was it, it did lay down the wind probably. I feel like when we got to, you know, actually it was manageable throughout the day, you know, it just wasn't quite as, as, as blustery as it was that morning. So when you guys went out there and I see Tristan Lawrence now have like, you shot 300 on the front nine. I'm like, holy crap. This is about to run away with it. And I'm on the back of 10 green because Lawrence is now on 10 and you're on the 11th fairway. And so I'm watching and listening to you and Austin go through the second shot at 11, which I feel like was one of the best shots I think that you've hit, whether you feel like it was it or was not that club poll. It was 181 yards, I think was the number. And you guys pulled a wedge. Was that one of Austin's best club polls, you think? I mean, we were, yeah, we were all Kaiser's always like out of, we were just off the fairway too. Yeah. So we were in the fescue. And we, I mean, if you swing hard at a wedge, like catching a little higher on the face, have a fescue, it's going to go. So yeah. I mean, that was, he had a couple other really good club polls too, like later, later, like his club poll on the par three was really big 14 or 17, 14. Yeah. That was a good one. We were on a six iron. I was like maybe five to take the bunkers out and he's like, it's a six, I think he's like, it's a six. Just hit a six. And I think I kind of backed off that a couple of times ended up birding that putt and his read on that putt was incredible as well. So we really, I mean, just like any, we happen to do it at a really big stage, but like we were stacking good decisions on good decisions and I was hitting the good shots that paid off too. So it was, it was a fun back nine. You could do us any favors there, Zander, like for TV because like it was such a close race where like Tristan Lawrence looked to be the runaway and then like, Holy crap, is Zander going to win a second major this year? And then like before we even had a chance to set the story up, the thing was over. It was, it wasn't, you didn't give us justice for NBC, man. My dream was there. Exactly. Your dream was there, which was, but it was, it was there. I was able to enjoy, if I had a one shot lead, I don't think I would have enjoyed walking up 18 as much as I did with Austin. But yeah, that was, that was a completely different feeling for me of just, I literally felt like I grabbed the tournament by the neck and just, you know, I had to hit the important shot. I hit it. I had to hit the green. I hit it. I had to make this pot. I made it. And I didn't even have to make a pot on 18. It was, I was just hitting it so good. I mean, I think the longest part, but I had it was like two feet or something like that. Three feet. Great feeling. It's a great feeling. And did, did the win at Troon more so feel like validation to you? It's like, you know, you just talked about the mirror staring into it. It's like, man, I did it. This is, this is me. Like I'm built for this. It's a true and feel like, you know what, I can, not only can I do this, but I can, you know, go on some type of run. Yeah. I mean, I would have never done it about how it felt, that was extremely validating. Like, I know it's only one and I know there's guys who have a million more, but that one for me, just because I've been coined, you know, the best guy that's ever won one. I'm getting in my head now about it. People every time I go anywhere, people are talking to me about it. It's there. It's present. It's that first one was extremely validating, especially it being so close, especially me having a pretty live. And so by the time I got to Troon, it felt like I was this, you know, seasoned veteran in the moment. But, you know, maybe I built it up more in my head, which paid off for me. But the first one was the most validating and the second was obviously extremely special, but the first one was definitely what helped me get in that mindset. And the last question for you, Xander, I mean, you just, you go from being, you know, talked about as, you know, one of the best players in the world to not win a major. And then now to winning two of those in the same season. And you're in the player of the year discussion. If it weren't for Scottie also popping off and having Tiger Woods, like ball striking numbers. I mean, can you put it into words and how can you just wrap your head around it? I'm, I'm, yeah, I mean, I, I've had a few moments now and it's sort of off season. I really tried not to let myself relax too much before I was done with Japan. I know it doesn't count for it, but I just turn it golf his term and golf to me. And I try to shoot the same, you know, depending on no matter what event it is. So it's, it's, it's so, it's such a nice feeling. I mean, the fact that I'm able to now kind of kick back and relax with family and even, I mean, even at the president's cup, you know, some of the boys were sort of, you know, they were cheering me on, on, on what a year it was. And that was an awesome experience as well. So overall it's been, you know, all, all sunshine and clear skies in, in the Schauffley camp and definitely looking forward to more opportunities and, yeah, but I'm, I'm, I'm still, I'm happy, you know, I'm excited. I'm, I'm scared of the day where I'm not excited to, to go train, to go practice, to wake up and to, to start, to get going. And obviously the relaxing part is a lot nicer now that I'm old and 31 years old. I really love my job and I, I'm very fortunate to, to be decent at it and, and to be able to play itself. Yeah. I'm smoking like a true champion and, and always well for the Schauffley family celebrating all this, but my eyes, I could be very happy if you're not going to be around to help move here right now. So we're going to let you go with, let's, let's put, let's put the French Bulldog and Aussie Labrador to work and what are their names again so we can thank them for your time as well. Chewie who's asleep somewhere, I don't even know, probably, they're probably by the door because they love mom so much. Chewie and Momo. Chewie and Momo. Chewie and Momo. Thank you for lending us, Zander Schauffley, two-time major champion and Zander, thank you for time and hopefully many more cigars to come in celebration. Yes. Thanks for having me. Thank you, buddy. See you. Support for this podcast comes from Progressive, a leader in RV Insurance. We've all made RVing mistakes like not pest proofing the RV for winter, but there's one mistake you shouldn't make, not ensuring your travel trailer. Progressive RV Insurance can protect your travel trailer when your auto or home insurance can. Get a quote at Progressive.com, Progressive Cash Routine Insurance Company and Affiliates. [MUSIC] The glad girl grew coming at you with a throwback jam. That was glad for his flex drawstring trash bags, featuring pine salt. And that's better than our good, it's all glad. [BLANK_AUDIO]
Smylie Kaufman is joined by two-time major champion Xander Schauffele on our latest longform conversation with a Tour pro on "The Smylie Show."
