NAPA, Calif. – Xander Schauffele had a good reason to smoke a cigar.
The 31-year-old, two-time major winner, recently became a first-time father. The Associated Press first reported the birth of son Victor to Schauffele and wife Maya.
There was some concern as to why he had elected to skip this week’s Procore Championship, where 10 members of the U.S. Ryder Cup team are scheduled to tee it up and gather with U.S. Ryder Cup Captain Keegan Bradley as well as team vice captains. Schauffele wasn’t part of the initial announcement that the Ryder Cuppers would be playing at Silverado Resort’s North Course in the first event of the FedEx Cup Fall to get rid of any rust before the Ryder Cup, which begins Sept. 26 at Bethpage Black in Farmington, N.Y. Then he let Friday’s deadline come and go without any explanation.
Schauffele kept the baby news quiet, although NBC Sports’s Kevin Kisner made mention that Schauffele’s wife was expecting during the broadcast of the BMW Championship.
According to a text to the AP’s Doug Ferguson, Schauffele is home in Florida with his newborn son. If that is the case, he would also miss tonight’s team dinner, which is being held at The French Laundry. Bryson DeChambeau, the only other member of Team USA not in the field this week because of his LIV Golf ties, is expected to attend the dinner and team bonding session.
Schauffele has one of the best possible excuses for not playing this week. He’ll head into the Ryder Cup without any competitive reps since the BMW Championship more than a month ago. Schauffele already missed an extended period of time at the start of the season due to a rib injury. That two-month layoff from January to March derailed his season. Coming off a season in which he won the PGA Championship and British Open, Schauffele went winless this season and failed to qualify for the Tour Championship for the first time in his career. It didn’t stop him from being an automatic qualifier on the U.S. Ryder Cup team as he finished third in the points standings. Schauffele will be making his third straight appearance representing the Stars and Stripes at the Ryder Cup and sixth straight Cup appearance overall, dating to the 2019 Presidents Cup.
Schauffele can pass out cigars after the birth of his baby and he’ll hope to have reason to light up another victory cigar if the U.S. can win back the Ryder Cup from Europe in the upcoming biennial competition.
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