Xander Schauffele reunited with gold medal, before Dad gets it back

JERSEY CITY, N.J. – It’s been a whirlwind few weeks for Xander Schauffele. After winning the gold medal at the Summer Games, he flew to Memphis the next week to play the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational.

Last week was his first chance to enjoy the gold medal at home with his friends and family, but that didn’t last long.

“Pops has it. I can’t get it off of him right now,” Schauffele laughed on Tuesday at The Northern Trust. “I had a couple of media things to do with the medal, and then I got a phone call shortly after that asking for the medal back. [Schauffele’s father Stefan] is taking good care of it as we speak.”

Full-field tee times from The Northern Trust

Stefan Schauffele had his Olympic hopes as a decathlete cut short when he lost the sight in his left eye after being struck by a drunk driver in 1986, and Xander’s grandfather, Richard, was the 1935 German track and field champion before being sidelined by a shoulder injury two weeks before the ’36 Olympics.

“This medal is for my country and my family, especially my dad!” Schauffele tweeted following his victory in Tokyo.