For new dad Xander Schauffele, a little rest for the weary pays dividends early at Bay Hill

ORLANDO — It takes some time to get used to the challenges of being a new parent, but Xander Schauffele and his wife Maya seem to be learning the ropes rather quickly—at least in terms of what might work best for dad’s golf game.

Schauffele opened with a four-under 68 Thursday in the Arnold Palmer Invitational and had to credit Maya for an assist by relegating him to a guest bedroom in their rented home so that their son, 6-month-old Victor, wouldn’t wake him in the middle of the night.

This is major championship parenting here.

“My wife was adamant on that,” Schauffele said with a huge grin after going bogey free in his opening round at Bay Hill Club. “I was like, ‘no.’ And then I was like, ‘yeah, yeah, yeah. Miss you guys.’ Yeah. Texting her from the other room, other side of the house. ‘What’s up, honey? See you in the morning.’”

Winner of the 2024 PGA Championship and Open Championship, Schauffele, ranked 10th in the world, has started slowly this year but has steadily improved with his first top-10 coming two weeks ago at the Genesis Invitational, where he tied for seventh. This after opening the season missing the cut in his hometown event, the Farmers Insurance Open in Torrey Pines, Calif. That stumble snapped a streak dating back to 2022 of 72 straight cuts made, the longest on the PGA Tour since Tiger Woods strung together 142 in a row.

The 32-year-old Californian took the disappointment in stride, reasoning, “Obviously I don't like missing cuts. I think my record proves that, but it's actually kind of nice, to be honest, if I was going to pick a spot … I get to hang out with my family.”

Schauffele had changed drivers that week and struggled with it, but another factor may have also contributed to his weekend off.

“San Diego, I slept in the same room [with Maya and Victor]. First miss cut,” he deadpanned, suppressing a smile. “Blaming it on the kid, doesn't even know yet.”

Yes, he was totally kidding.

These arrangements might endure for a few more months. Right now, Victor is still waking up one or two times a night.

“Yeah. It's our first kid. My wife's not going to kick him out of the room, you know what I mean?” Schauffele said.

Any parent would understand. And if it helps the game, golfing dads everywhere might take up the practice.