Xander Schauffele has been a long way from his hometown for a few weeks now, but his choice of a European getaway showed his Southern California roots.
In need of some downtime between his win at the Open Championship and the start of Olympic golf, the Scripps Ranch grad retreated with his wife and friends to the beaches of Portugal.
"A true San Diegan," Schauffele admitted to NBC 7.
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It was a well-deserved escape, on the heels of a two months span that featured two career-defining victories and a ton of congratulatory messages.
"A lot of people from San Diego too, so feeling the love from home."
Long before his gold medal victory at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Schauffele had demonstrated more than enough ability to join the ranks of major champions. However, his relentless consistency at top events didn't bear fruit until May. A six-foot putt on the 72nd hole at Valhalla earned him the PGA Championship, and rid him of a label no golfer wants to be tagged with.
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"It's super validating," Schauffele said. "People were writing or talking about in media how I'm the best player to not win a major, and I was starting to sit on that list for a little while. Not something I really worried about...To be able to do it and then do it shortly again it's extremely validating. It's such a surreal feeling just to look back on it."
A feeling he's still trying to process.
"It hasn't really settled in, but there's a deep appreciation for it - I can tell you that much."
The former Aztec hasn't had a great opportunity to wrap his head around the idea of being a two-time major winner. The trip to Portugal offered a little peace and quiet ahead of another enormous test.
On Thursday, Schauffele will be one of 60 golfers to tee off at Le Golf National outside of Paris, all aiming at the third men's gold medal in modern Olympic history. Schauffele used a steely approach shot on the final hole in Tokyo to set up the winning par putt.
With fans unable to attend those Summer Games because of COVID-19, there was no roar like the ones he received the last two months.
"Hopefully a lot of people come out here and support golf," Schauffele said. "It will be cool to see people. At Tokyo it was weird, you just saw media personnel. Hit a good shot or bad shot, it was kinda quiet - it felt like you were at home sort of. Out here it's gonna be much different I think."
His dad an then swing coach Stefan was on the grounds for that tournament. His whole family and team will be able to attend this time around.
"It's awesome," Schauffele said. "I was fortunate to have some of my family up in Tokyo, they just weren't able to attend. It will be nice to see them out on the course, if I'm able to see them, there's gonna be fans."
Since golf just recently returned to the Olympics in 2016, gold medals don't have the same broad, long-standing appeal as major championships. Having claimed one, Schauffele went into the 2024 PGA Tour season motivated to give himself a chance to double his medal count.
"It was a huge goal just to qualify for it again," Schauffele admitted. "It was stressful to qualify for the team."
His win at Valhalla solidified his spot, with his two majors punctuating a spectacular season. In 17 starts he's made every cut and finished in the Top-10 12 times, with seven Top-5s.
His consistent performances and long-awaited triumphs earned him a ticket to Paris to defend his first crowning victory from three years ago.
"In four years so much stuff can happen, so I'm proud I was able to qualify again to represent the U.S. It doesn't feel like you're defending to be honest just because it's been such a long time. It feels like a complete new beast you're trying to tame."
Round 2 begins at midnight San Diego time. Here's how to watch:
