LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Xander Schauffele has hit tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of shots in his career. So naturally, the most important one he ever faced was one you almost never practice.
Schauffele has spent a career as a runner-up. Yes, he captured a gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, but in the world of golf, he was still part of the club no one wants to be in — the “best never to win a major” crew. Second-place finishes in the Masters and the Open, a third-place finish in the U.S. Open — he was close, so very very close, which can be worse than missing the cut entirely.