It might not have been Xander Schauffele’s most prestigious tournament victory, but it should be the American’s most memorable.
Schauffele yesterday shot a seven-under 64 to win the Baycurrent Classic in Japan — a country where his Taiwan-born mother grew up and where he has many connections.
Schauffele, who shot 19-under 265 over four rounds at the Yokohama Country Club, finished one shot ahead of American Max Greyserman, who was also the runner-up at the event a year earlier as he chases his first PGA Tour title.
Photo: A
When she was four years old, Schauffele’s mother, Chen Ping-yi, moved to Japan, where her Taiwanese parents still live. His mother-in-law is also Japanese, and his wife is half Japanese and grew up in Okinawa.
“I’ve been coming here since I was about nine years old to visit my grandparents,” Schauffele said. “I sort of fell in love with this country a long time ago. I can’t wait to bring my son here when he’s old enough to sort of understand and appreciate the culture here in Japan.”
“Yeah, the ties run deep for the Schauffele family here in Japan,” he added.
Schauffele and his wife, Maya Schauffele, became parents just more than a month ago with the birth of a son.
“It’s still kind of fresh, but it’s definitely a cool thing being a dad and I’m so excited to go home to him and Maya after this,” he said.
He was cheered during the tournament by family members who attended, including his 81-year-old grandmother who walked the course with him.
In a 2021 Golf Digest article, he said he referred to his grandparents as “agong” and “ama,” Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese) terms of endearment.
He yesterday said there would probably be a “get-together” with family members later to celebrate.
“I mean, I don’t get to see them very often and they’ve always been gracious with their time to come out wherever the event was,” he said. “They’ve been awesome to me and this is pretty cool. I’ve really wanted to share a win with them, so can’t wait to get together with them.”
Meanwhile, Taiwan’s Kevin Yu finished tied for 20th in the tournament with an eight-under 276.
Additional reporting by staff writer
Jesper Boqvist on Tuesday scored the go-ahead goal midway through the third period as the Florida Panthers, after raising their second straight NHL Stanley Cup banner, opened the defense of the title by beating the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2. Mackie Samoskevich — getting his second assist, the fifth two-point game of his career — chipped the puck toward the goal and Boqvist knocked it out of the air for the lead with 10 minutes, 20 seconds left. A.J. Greer and Carter Verhaeghe also had goals for Florida, who got 17 saves from Sergei Bobrovsky. Frank Nazar had a goal and an assist and Teuvo
World No. 3 Alexander Zverev on Monday said that he was playing “terrible tennis” after he was knocked out of the Shanghai Masters by France’s Arthur Rinderknech 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. His exit leaves Novak Djokovic as the tournament’s top-ranked player, increasing the 38-year-old Serb’s chances of winning a record-extending fifth title in the Chinese financial hub. In stifling conditions, world No. 54 Rinderknech came back from a set down to stun an increasingly rattled Zverev into submission. It is the second time the Frenchman has beaten him, after bundling him out of Wimbledon earlier this year. A despondent Zverev told reporters the match had
‘SOMETHING SPECIAL’: Nathan Lukes hit a two-run single and Addison Barger had three of Toronto’s 12 hits as the Blue Jays bounced back After taking down the storied New York Yankees in their own ballpark in their American League Division Series on Wednesday, Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider was ready to revel in the triumph. “Start spreading the news,” Schneider said while popping a bottle of bubbly to set off the Blue Jays’ jubilant celebration inside their Yankee Stadium clubhouse. With the party under way, the familiar lyrics from Frank Sinatra’s version of New York, New York — the Yankees’ long-time victory anthem — sounded in the background as roaring Toronto players sprayed each other with booze in the Bronx. This time, it was their
Mexico’s teenage playmaker Gilberto Mora has lit up the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Chile as he basks in the limelight afforded by the absences of Barcelona and Real Madrid stars Lamine Yamal and Franco Mastantuono. “I don’t know if I’m the biggest star, and I’m not really interested in that. I think you can always give more,” 16-year-old Mora said before Mexico’s 4-1 win against host nation Chile in the round-of-16 on Tuesday, in which he provided the assist for the opening goal. Next on Mora’s schedule is a quarter-final clash against Argentina this morning Taiwan time, but after
RSS