Xander Schauffele gets validation and records with one memorable putt at PGA Championship
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Xander Schauffele might have to watch the replay of his 6-foot putt to see how it dipped into the left side of the hole and looked as though it might spin out. When it comes to him winning the last two years, that’s what usually happens.
And then it quickly slipped out of sight, and the rest was a blur.
“When it lipped in — I don’t really remember it lipping in,” Schauffele said Sunday at Valhalla, a course named for the heaven of Norse warriors in mythology, and the PGA Championship felt every bit like a battle.
“I just heard everyone roaring,” he said, “and I just looked up to the sky in relief.”
That one putt — 6 feet, 2 inches, to be precise — brought more than he ever imagined.
Until that final hole of great theater, so typical of the PGA Championship at Valhalla, Schauffele was wearing the wrong kind of labels.