The Loop
Recalling Xander Schauffele's best three-hole stretch and it wasn't that which won him Greenbrier Classic
Jared C. Tilton
Xander Schauffele birdied two of the last three holes on Sunday to win the Greenbrier Classic by one, his most profitable three-hole stretch, but not his most impressive.
Seven years ago, Schauffele, then 16, was playing a practice round at Barona Creek Golf Club in Lakeside, Calif., in advance of a U.S. Open local qualifier there, when he made an albatross, a birdie and an eagle on holes 13 through 15.
That’s six-under in three holes, for those keeping score, or “like making three eagles in a row, or three holes-in-one in a row,” Xander’s father Stefan told San Diego Union-Tribune golf writer Tod Leonard at the time.
Stafan and two teaching professionals, Ross Marcano and Paul Marchewka, were playing alongside Schauffele that day and were witnesses.
On the 534-yard par-5 13th hole, Schauffele hit a perfect drive and holed a 3-iron from 232 yards.
At the 314-yard par-4 14th, he made a five-footer for birdie. Ho hum. On the downhill 417-yard par-4 15th hole, he hit his drive into short rough, leaving him 92 yards to the hole. He eased off a sand wedge shot that landed 25 feet short of the hole and rolled up and in for a two.
“I was so happy I couldn’t stop smiling,” Schauffele told Leonard. “I had a face cramp from smiling. It’ll be a good story for my kids. This will never wear off.”