Tour Life
Xander Schauffele's hilarious hole-in-one story involving Phil MIckelson had Rich Eisen howling
Xander Schauffele is still basking in the glow of winning his first major at the PGA Championship. But on Wednesday, he seemed to have just as much fun looking back on a money match with Phil Mickelson.
Fresh off winning the Wanamaker Trophy, Schauffele joined the Rich Eisen Show as part of the obiligatory media tour any major champ makes. And the best part of the interview came when Eisen asked him about his hole-in-one history.
Surprisingly, Schauffele didn't have any until he was 25 when he finally made one at the 2019 Tour Championship while playing with Rory McIlroy. His next one less than a year later during the Covid lockdown, however, was even more memorable.
As Schauffele explains, he was beating Mickelson late in the match so Lefty decided to press. Obviously. This was when Mickelson was still very much a gambling man unlike now. Anyway, it backfired as Schauffele followed Phil's great shot with an even better one that found the bottom of the cup for an ace.
"He literally sat on the box and looked like someone kicked him in the nuts," Schauffele said as Eisen started clapping and howling with laughter.
Great stuff—and what a dagger for Phil. Check out the clip:
Now to Phil's credit, he bounced back pretty darn well from that. After winning his sixth career major at the 2021 PGA Championship about a year later, he credited his matches with Schauffele, a fellow San Diegan, for motivating him to get back in the winner's circle. So Phil went from sitting down on that box to hoisting up the Wanamaker Trophy.
Anyway, Xander now has one of those trophies of his own—to go along with a couple classic hole-in-one stories.