SAN DIEGO – In 2014, when news broke that Torrey Pines was confirmed as the host site for the 2021 U.S. Open, Xander Schauffele was at home on the couch with his father. He was still in college at San Diego State, a year away from turning pro.
“We were like, ‘Hey, we need to whatever we can to get into this tournament,’” Schauffele recalled Tuesday. “Here we are sitting here trying to win the thing. Maybe I didn’t set lofty enough goals seven years ago, but they’re definitely lofty enough now.”
Now Schauffele is the sixth-ranked player in the world who has had a host of chances to capture his first major.