San Diego’s Schauffele Ties for Fifth at U.S. Open

On Friday, we wrote that we’d spotted local golfer Xander Schauffele who’s family are members of the Bernardo Heights Country Club here in San Diego, on the leaderboard at five-under halfway through the U.S. Open.

Well, in case you were wrapped up in Father’s Day festivities (I wasn’t- I got a pass to watch the whole thing) and missed it, he ended up finishing tied for fifth place, after posting a solid weekend performance, featuring a 69 on Sunday. And if you were watching closely, you know it could have even been better.

The performance is even more impressive if you realize Xander missed out on his PGA Tour card by less than $100 after a full season on the Web.com Tour. It was only after a good showing at the season-ending Web.com Tour Finals that the 23-year-old got his opportunity on the PGA Tour this year. Schauffele’s first season on the PGA Tour looked pretty normal by most rookie’s standards, missing seven cuts out of 17 starts and posting only one finish in the top-10. This year, Schauffele only got into the U.S Open by prevailing in a five-man playoff to land a spot in the field.

His performance in the Open will have many benefits. Beside the experience and confidence-building, going into the Open, Schauffle was way down on the money list and was in need of some solid gold for the rest of the season if he was to continue on the big Tour. His $420,000 earned with this solid showing is a huge help, almost doubling his season earnings and placing him at #96 of the top 125 money earners, which gain exemptions for the next season.

Pretty heady stuff for the young man from San Diego!