Scotland, TROON – Harry’s Bar & Restaurant in West Palm Beach, Florida, is a popular hangout among professional golf royalty for its proximity to the game’s biggest names and a life-changing beef, Wellington.

Last fall, the upscale steakhouse was where Xander Schauffele began his transformation from potential powerhouse to major champion, but that official transformation was still seven months away. Ranked sixth in the world at the time, Schauffele was 0-27 in Grand Slam starts and had come close to a breakout at the game’s biggest and best events, but something was missing. It was that big record that led Schauffele to join him for dinner with swing coach Chris Como.

Schauffele tied at 10^pearl The player, who won both the Masters and the US Open and finished in the top 20 at the PGA Championship and the Open Championship, went to Como to find the missing piece.

Schauffele shot 31 on the back nine en route to a two-stroke victory at The Open on Sunday, his second major championship in three appearances.

“Xander was looking for someone to bounce ideas off of and help him with his game,” Como explained. “He was already very good, so from my perspective, how do you help someone like that get a little bit better? That can mean a lot to a player at that level, but it can also go in the opposite direction.”

Schauffele’s hitting coach had always been his father, Stefan, so the decision to look elsewhere for answers was probably not an easy one. But with Schauffele’s blessing, Stefan embarked on a quest to find the answer to professional golf’s ultimate question — How do I win the Majors?

Como, who has worked with many of the game’s best players, including Tiger Woods and Bryson DeChambeau, took a predictably analytical approach to the question, with what he called “subtle changes” to Schauffele’s position at the top of his backswing and a new transition to his downswing. The answers came surprisingly quickly, with him finishing in the top 10 in his first three starts of 2024, but it was at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March where he started to see real progress.

A runner-up showing at The Players, which saw him take the lead through 54 holes but was derailed by two late bogeys on Sunday, and another top-10 finish at the Masters was encouraging. But it was the PGA Championship where the new-and-improved Xander emerged with a closing 65 to edge out DeChambeau with a walk-off birdie in the 72nd^And hole.

“We found the answer that we couldn’t find ourselves, to be honest, with Chris Como’s help,” Stefan Schauffele said on a windy, wet Royal Troon on Sunday. “He was able to answer very quickly what we hadn’t been able to answer for two or three years. It was the wrist position and the release pattern that Como had been working on for a long time and that Xander and I hadn’t been able to find with our old methods. It liberated him tremendously.”

Como credits Schauffele and suggests his role in the major championship transformation was simply mentoring.

“Ultimately, he would win majors, but it would be helpful to understand his golf swing a little bit better,” Como said. “He’s able to hit a shot in a way that really suits him and frees him up on the way out.”

It’s easy enough to gauge how much more “free” Schauffele feels off the tee. His ball speed is up from 179.30 mph last season, which ranks 34th^pearl On the PGA Tour this year, he hit a speed of 183.14 mph, which is 10^pearl In the round; he also won the strokes: starting stroke (11)^pearl) and driving distance (37^pearl).

That formula held true at Royal Troon, where Schauffele took 3.41 strokes off the tee on the course at Royal Troon, which combined The Open’s longest hole (No. 6) and shortest hole (No. 8) in spectacular fashion. But his performance in the year’s final major was much more than a driving display.

Finished second in hits: nearfall, 15^pearl in strokes gained: around the green and perhaps most importantly, 20^pearl strokes gained: hitting is an under-appreciated strength of his game.

“He made a long birdie putt (a 16-footer on No. 13) and I texted (Schauffele’s hitting coach, Derek Ueyda), ‘I haven’t told you how much I love you yet,'” Como said with a laugh.

Schauffele’s dominant closing nine is a textbook example of how to win a major championship. After enduring the worst of Saturday’s storm, he took the lead with birdies on holes 6 and 7, but a searing inside nine, Royal Troon’s difficult back nine, set the stage for his two-stroke victory.

Scottie Scheffler, tied for seventh after a poor week on the greens, is still the frontrunner to win the Tour’s Player of the Year award, but Schauffele’s performance in majors may have some second-guessing that vote. But after his journey from really good to great, it won’t take a Jack Nicklaus Trophy to confirm his decision.

What started with a delicious dinner at Harry’s in South Florida led to one of the most impressive major seasons in recent history, with Schauffele winning two Grand Slam titles and finishing in the top 10 in two others. When asked why Como was the answer to Xander’s big question, Stefan Schauffele was quick to point out.

“It would explain why Xander has a little bit of a loose, sloppy top position at times,” Stefan Schauffele said. “Xander is extremely flexible, and so am I, and that creates some difficult situations in the golf swing; overhitting, release, all kinds of things. Chris had the answer.”

But if Como provided the roadmap, full of data and measurable theory, it was Xander Schauffele who took the lessons and made them legendary. He posted the round of the day on Sunday at The Open when most competitors were languishing, and on Saturday, when conditions were in maximum connection, he posted an extremely rare under-par round (69).

“I’ve kind of adopted that Southern California, easy-going kid, but there’s obviously a fire burning deep inside me, or you wouldn’t have a couple majors around you,” Schauffele said, looking into his claret jug.

Schauffele poses for photos with his new and old awards, while his father, 18.^pearl Green. Stefan Schauffele wasn’t at Valhalla when his son won the PGA Championship, and he clearly wanted to savor the moment.

“In all sports, this is the coolest trophy in the world. So they’re not even hiding what we’re going to drink tonight. It’s no secret what we’re going to drink from it tonight,” laughed Stefan Schauffele, before being asked what he planned to drink from the famous jug. “Wine, I think. Or if not (he pulled a flask from his pocket), sleep.”