Xander Schauffele has burst on the scene in a few short seasons on the PGA Tour, winning nearly a handful of big tournaments with deep fields to jump into the top 20 in the Official World Golf Ranking.
Schauffele is again in contention at a major, this time at the 2024 Masters, and that means a huge audience of people will be seeing his name that don't normally watch golf.
The first thing people should know is Xander isn't Schauffele's real first name. Xander is short for Alexander, as his full name is Alexander Victor Schauffele. It's kind of like Topher Grace, from "That '70s Show," whose given first name is Christopher. Instead of taking the first part of the first name, they take the second part. Works all the same.
The other thing people will trip over is how to pronounce Xander Schauffele's name. The first name is pretty easy. It's not "ex-an-der." It's "zan-der." The last name is a little tougher to eyeball phonetically, but it's a simple pronunciation: "Shaw-flea." It's been pronounced "Shaw-flay," but that doesn't seem right.
Schauffele was born in San Diego, Calif., to a German-French father and a Taiwanese mom, both naturalized Americans. He went to San Diego State University after a stop at Long Beach State University, and his father has been his lone swing coach.
It's a good idea to know Xander Schauffele's name and backstory now because he already has three top-six major finishes to his name in just seven starts. He'll be winning for years to come.
