Xander Schauffele’s caddie has no doubts about him completing a career slam next year. For a long time he was the nearly man of the sport.
But Schauffele now has two major titles to his name, adding to his PGA Championship triumph from May with victory at The Open last weekend. It took him above Rory McIlroy to second in the world rankings.
Ahead of him is Scottie Scheffler, who for all his dominance in 2024, still only has two Masters on his CV when it comes to the big four. And Schauffele’s long-time caddie Austin Kaiser backs his good friend to continue his winning streak and complete a career slam come 12 months’ time.
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Kaiser said: “After he won the PGA, I looked at him and said, ‘Let’s go for the Grand Slam in the next three'. Let’s do it. Why not? He’s right there. He’s played well in Augusta. He’s played well in the US Open. I definitely could see him achieving that. No problem.”
Scheffler has finished runner-up at both Valhalla and in the US Open, while his T7-finish at Royal Troon was his best Open effort yet. McIlroy is one of two active players, along with Jordan Spieth, who are 75% of the way to winning it all.
Before his well-documented decade-long major drought, the Northern Irishman won the US Open in 2011, PGA Championship in 2012 and 2014, and Open in 2014. He’s come agonisingly close to ending that wait on a number of occasions, and he was three shots back from Scheffler in second at Augusta two years ago to complete the slam.
Not only does Schauffele’s caddie reckon he’s in pole position to achieve it, but so too does his dad Stefan - be it next year or further down the line. While he acknowledged his bias, he argued the numbers don’t lie.
Speaking after his son’s exploits in Scotland, the elder Schauffele argued: “It’s up to you guys to take a look at the statistics and see who has the greatest potential of being the next career grand-slammer because I think he’s the one who has the game. Yes, I’m being subjective but I think, objectively, you will arrive at the same conclusion.”
Only five golfers in the modern era of the sport have managed the career slam. Scheffler, McIlroy and Schauffele are battling it out to join the ranks of Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Ben Hogan and Gene Sarazen.
