Xander Schauffele isn't the type of golfer that gains motivation from seeing a trophy in his living room but he still wants the Claret Jug back.
PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland — Xander Schauffele returned the Claret Jug on Monday, ending his one-year custody of the British Open trophy.
He drank tequila from it in Portugal and wine on a few other occasions. He called relinquishing it “a bummer” and said he would fight to regain possession of the silver trophy again this week. But it turns out he’s not a trophy guy. Schauffele said he doesn’t display any of the trophies from his nine Tour titles at his home. So, where are the trophies?
“My parents' house, probably in a bank vault. I think that's where some of the — like one of the trophies was when they travel,” he said.
As for the Olympic gold medal that he won at the Tokyo Summer Olympics? He said he had no idea.
“What am I going to do with it? I don't really invite people over to my house. Am I just going to go look at it myself?" he said. "That's the way I feel about it. I don't want to walk into a trophy room, look how great I am. I was just raised to think that way, and it's kind of stuck. I really don't sit at home, you know what I mean?”
Schauffele isn’t the only champion golfer with this mindset. Lee Trevino, who won the British Open in 1971 and 1972, didn’t keep his trophies around. They were tucked away in a bedroom upstairs, he said in an interview with the USGA. Neither did Masters champions and 15-time Tour winner Fred Couples, who kept them boxed in a closet. Tiger Woods only showcased his 15 major trophies. At the 2021 Masters, Rory McIlroy recounted how he was struck that the other 67 trophies from his remaining Tour wins were nowhere to be seen and asked him where they were.
"He said, 'I don't know.' I go, 'What?' He said, 'Yeah, my mom has some, and a few are in the office and a few are wherever,'" McIlroy recalled in his pre-tournament interview ahead of the 85th Masters.
Annika Sorenstam had special shelving built for her trophies. When she moved and sold that house to Yani Tseng, the Korean golfer attempted to fill all the empty slots. But Schauffele won’t necessarily miss having the Claret Jug around should he fail to defend his title this week at Royal Portrush Golf Club. And it’s safe to say there may be some remodeling done in his home gym soon.
“My wife hung up some pictures of me in my gym of like me winning the Olympic medal, and she put it so high up I can't reach it. I have to get a ladder now, and it bothers me,” he said. “Like if anything, put up like me in a Masters jacket, like that would piss me off, you know what I mean? Something like that is more motivating than like, all right, that's not great. I don't want to look at that.”
When asked what he would prefer on his gym walls, Schauffele replied, “A photo of my dogs or nothing, a clock maybe. I'm always late, so maybe a clock would be good for me.”
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Xander Schauffele isn't a trophy guy but wants the Claret Jug back
Category: General Sports
