Determined Xander

Xander Schauffele described his win at The 152nd Open as the sweetest of his life – and with stories of celebratory cigars and tequila in the Claret Jug, who could argue.

But amid a season of frustrating form and niggling injuries, the American admits that a successful defence would surpass his Royal Troon triumph.

Schauffele is centre of attention this week.

On Monday, he returned the Claret Jug to the R&A and is among the Featured Groups on Thursday morning when he tees off at 9:58am alongside US Open winner JJ Spaun and two-time major champion Jon Rahm.

However, 2025 has not been as magical as 2024 – yet.

Last year, Schauffele arrived at Royal Troon as one of the men to beat, having emerged from a collection of major-champions-in-waiting to win one of the game’s four biggest prizes just a few weeks before.

He held his nerve to win the US PGA Championship while under intense pressure from a world-class leaderboard and carried that momentum to Scotland, where he surged through the field to become Champion Golfer of the Year on an epic Open Sunday.

Schauffele was so good that even world No.1 Scottie Scheffler had to doff his cap, hold his hands up and admit that even he – a seven-time winner last season - could not compete with the quality of his close friend’s golf.

This year, however, has been frustrating.

An intercostal strain and cartilage tear kept Schauffele off the course for two months in the New Year, leaving him stuck indoors with his French bulldog Chewy.

While he secured a top-10 finish at the Masters, he is yet to regain his 2024 form – with last week’s T8 finish at the Scottish Open just his second top-10 all season.

That result has given him a timely confidence boost and, while Schauffele says the clout of being a Champion Golfer means little this week, he knows that if he works his way into contention, he will be tough to stop.

“It's an interesting thing just because my thoughts of playing really well were at Royal Troon,” he said.

“Coming here, I feel like I'm trying to relearn this golf course, get comfortable with certain sight lines, some blind tee shots.

“I think, if I can get myself in the mix is when I think I would have an advantage. That's where my biggest edge would be.

“I can lean on experience at other points in time, but I think the most fun and the biggest advantage I would have is coming down the stretch if I can get close to that lead.”

Becoming the Champion Golfer of the Year takes some getting used to. Brian Harman says he was riding his tractor on a glorious winter morning when the scale of his 2023 success hit him, while Rory McIlroy experienced the same when he went for a run in Central Park weeks after his 2014 victory.

Schauffele, by his own admission, likes to stay on an even keel. While undeniably proud of his achievements, he prefers to look to the future.

The Californian does not have a single trophy in his house – his dad, Stefan, has his replica Claret Jug – while he does not have a clue where his Olympic gold medal from 2021 is.

“I'm 31, 32 this year, hopefully I have another 10-15 years in me where I can be competitive,” he said.

“At some point I'm sure I'll look back on my career, but I don't have any trophies at my house.

“I don't really think about winning. If you're really competitive, you just think about how to get better and you think about what's next, which is good and bad.

“If you have really good friends around you that will kind of drag you into a celebration, that's nice. I talked with Keegan [Bradley], and he kept telling me to just really enjoy it.

“He kept telling me that when I'd sit with him and have dinner with him. I thought about it for sure, just how quickly we move on to the next thing.

“I just think at some point in my career I'll do that, but right now I really want to keep my head down and keep charging.”

For now, however, Schauffele wants the Claret Jug back.

On Monday, he handed the famous trophy to R&A Chief Executive Mark Darbon, but does not intend to be apart from it for long.

“It is a bummer to give up the trophy, I want to get it back,” he said.

“I was close at the Scottish Open last week, I had a better understanding of what I was doing when I hit bad shots so that was helpful.

“There were a couple of days where it was windy and it helped me shape the ball, so that was good.

“I don’t think it was easy to learn links golf, I am still learning a lot.

“Even lasty week to this week is different. I am learning about how the ball reacts on different grass, whether it will jump or not.

“Links golf is a mentality, it comes with weather and when there is bad weather you need to have a good attitude.”

Nobody could deny Xander Schauffele has that.