Born and raised in San Diego, California, Xander Schauffele fixed his sights on golf at the young age of 10.
His father, a graduate of San Diego Golf Academy (now Golf Academy of America), encouraged his interest and to this day is his only swing coach. Schauffele played golf for Scripps Ranch High School, then Long Beach State University and San Diego State University. Among other early accolades, he won the individual title of the 2011 California State High School Championship and is the 2014 California State Amateur champion.
He began his college career at Long Beach State University under then coach Ryan Ressa. There, Xander garnered Big West Conference Freshman of the Year and First Team All-Big West awards in 2012.
For his sophomore year Xander transferred to San Diego State University to play for the SDSU Aztecs, where he still holds several seasonal and career records. After graduating with a degree in Social Sciences in 2015, Xander played Web.com Q-School that same fall. There he succeeded in securing playing privileges for the 2016 Web.com Tour season. After a solid first season on the Web.com Tour, Xander finished in 26th position at the end of regular season play, a mere US$ 900.00 short of earning a PGA Tour card.
In the ensuing Web.com Playoffs Xander did finish in 15th position securing his privileges for PGA Tour membership the hard way. Xander finished his first PGA Tour season with a solid run beginning with a T5 at the 2017 US Open and ending with being the first ever rookie to win the PGA Tour Championship.
His 2-win season (2017 Greenbrier Classic; 2017 Tour Championship) earned Xander the Rookie of the Year award for the 2016-2017 season.
