Xander Schauffele is the man of the hour right now after coming out on top at Valhalla last week to win the PGA Championship.
Schauffele held off some tough challenges from the likes of Viktor Hovland and Bryson DeChambeau to win out, while he completely pulled clear of playing partner Colin Morikawa in round four.
The 30-year-old has come close to winning the majors on more than one occasion but this time, he finally got over the line as his consistency from tee to green really helped.
READ MORE: The five longest drives of the 2024 PGA Championship at Valhalla
As we know, Schauffele is one of the very best in the world and like most on the PGA Tour, any improvement is usually down to something minor being tweaked.
And in terms of Schauffele’s swing, a former PGA Tour player thinks he’s spotted a subtle change.
Smylie Kauffman explains the subtle Xander Schauffele swing changed he noticed at the PGA Championship
Speaking on his The Smylie Show podcast, Kauffman explained what he’d noticed about Schauffele’s swing this weekend.
“He went from having a golf swing where he took it fairly further, like he took it a little bit more outside than most guys, had a more laid off position at the top, still had a flex lead wrist, and was a really good ball striker,” Kauffman said.
“You know, it was, he wasn’t the longest player. I would say he was above average by, I mean, I wouldn’t call him a short player.
“He was a player that could still get it out there. But what he’s doing now, he’s got it a little bit more through his hands on the way back. It’s a little bit through his hands at the top and a little bit more across the line with the driver with the same wrist mechanics.
“And what it’s allowed him to do, it’s given him the ability to turn a little bit better with his lower body on the way back to be able to pick up some speed.
“And where did we see that on this week? I mean, he hit 187 mile an hour ball speed on that 17 tee and he probably could have hit 188 and he would have been in the fairway”
Schauffele will want to back this win with more
The best golfers in the world right now are the ones that produce consistent performances to keep being in contention across multiple tournaments.
We’ve seen with Scottie Scheffler, for example, that it can be done. Scheffler was out of the running this week, but he had won four of the previous five.
For someone like Xander Schauffele, the trick now will be to get that consistency in his game and show he can contend and crucially, win, more than once.
With the US Open in a few weeks, Schauffele will be keen to ride the wave and make it two in a row.
Easier said than done, of course, but his form in the last few tournaments, not just at Valhalla, suggests he won’t be far away.
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