A Major Celebration
Cigars are meant for celebration, so when pro golfer and cigar lover Xander Schauffele was ready to unwind after winning the PGA Championship in May, he lit up.
It was a time of immense relief. Despite being a marquee name in golf, with a Gold Medal and a Ryder Cup among his wins, the 30-year-old Schauffele was haunted by another distinction: the back-handed compliment of being on the list of the best golfers never to win a major. He had come oh-so-close in many majors, finishing second twice, and seven times in the top 10. But in May, when his final putt—just over six feet in length—dropped for a birdie, the wait was over. He raised both arms in celebration, a huge smile spreading across his face. He was finally a major champion.
“It’s amazing, it’s validating, it’s hard to explain,” he says.
Schauffele’s performance was one for the record books. He finished at 21 strokes under par for the four-day-tournament (a major record) and shot a 62 in the first round, a course record at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky. (Shane Lowry would tie that record in the third round.) He also broke a winning drought, getting his first victory in one year, 10 months. He was atop the leaderboard for each round of the tournament.
“I think the feeling is different ’cause I haven’t won in such a long time,” he says. “Waking up I’ve just been over the moon. That reaction you saw on the last hole that was absolute relief.”
Absolute relief was soon followed by absolute celebration. He’s known as one of the cigar-smoking golfers on the tour, so before long someone handed him a smoke.
“A member at Valhalla gave me a cigar,” says Schauffele. Given the craziness of the day, he’s not even certain what it was. “It was nice though,” he says. He lit it up back at the rental property where he was staying, smoking while he sipped some Bourbon, fitting for a tournament won in the land of Bourbon. The celebration also included other beverages, among them Champagne sipped straight from the massive, 27-pound Wanamaker Trophy, one of the biggest in professional sports.
“There’s a few different kinds of beverages that were poured in it,” he says.
Smoking cigars is nostalgic for Schauffele, who counts Olivas and Montecristos as his favorites. “I am more of a social cigar smoker.” He rarely smokes on the golf course, as golf is his business.
Schauffele got into cigars through his father, Stefan, who is a frequent cigar smoker and also Xander’s coach. (Stefan appeared in the My Favorite Cigar section of the May/June 2024 Cigar Aficionado).
“Growing up I played golf with my dad and an old friend of ours named Mike who would smoke five, six cigars in a round. He would always have a cigar,” Schauffele says. A cigar, he says, “just makes me think of golfing with my dad and growing up.”
Stefan wasn’t at Valhalla the weekend his son won, but after the final putt dropped, when victory was secure, Xander called him on the phone. “He started crying, I started crying,” he says. It was a beautiful moment.
“I’m sure when I see my dad,” says Schauffele, “I’ll smoke a cigar with him.”
