Xander Schauffele was overawed to find Tiger Woods in his inbox after surging to success at The Open Championship. And the 15-time major winner's message exemplified his keen attitude towards helping grow the future superstars of the sport.
The accolades are stacking up for Schauffele, who will seek to defend the gold medal he won at Tokyo 2020 when the men's golf gets underway at the Paris 2024 Olympics on Thursday. He opened his major account after triumphing at the PGA Championship in May before adding the Claret Jug to his trophy cabinet at Royal Troon just two months later.
Those feats are undoubtedly enough to satisfy most golfers after rising to the top of the pyramid in a short space of time. But Schauffele revealed Woods' text was the icing on the cake after his hero reached out to congratulate him on that latest success.
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"Tiger sent one along the lines of, “'Champion Golfer of the year, take it in,'" the San Diego native told the Daily Mail. "Just how cool is that?
"At Troon I played my first two rounds with him. I didn't see him at all on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, so the first time I saw him was on Thursday, and he looked at me, and he goes, 'How's it feel?' I wasn’t sure what he meant at first, and then I was like, 'Oh, he's talking about the fact that I have won a major now.'"
Schauffele, 30, has been open regarding his admiration of Woods and the status he still holds in the sport. Despite past struggles in his personal life and a reputation for being a fierce competitor, anecdotes such as this point to the superstar's softer side as he encourages the next generation.
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The world No2 went on to describe his incredulity at recent developments, suggesting he still feels starstruck despite his quick rise. But he has a long way to go before he can challenge Woods' major tally.
"I’m laughing just thinking about it," he continued. "I feel over the moon sitting here with two and I mean, he has 15. It's pretty humbling when you start to compare yourself to someone like that to one of the best to ever touch a club. But again, I am just so happy."
Schauffele won't get another chance to beef up his major trophy count until next year. However, he'll have his hands full attempting to haul in another gold in Paris this weekend.
The sport has only been included in four previous editions of the Summer Games having made a comeback in 2016 after a century-long absence. That means he can become the first golfer to medal - and potentially win gold - in two Olympics as Schauffele targets another piece of history.
