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Xander Schauffele hits a tee shot last month on the 2nd hole at Augusta National.
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Xander Schauffele’s meal? He said it’s nothing unique. He called it middle of the road.
But the gifts he’s bringing? Schauffele’s hopeful they’ll be a hit.
To set the table here, we’re in major season now, which means it’s also dinner time. A handful of the year’s biggest tournaments hold meals where the previous year’s winner hosts, previous winners attend and those on the outside looking in are desperate for a look at the menu.
At this year’s Masters Champions Dinner, the most well-known of the winner affairs, one of its main courses opened both mouths and eyes, simply because of its size. Scottie Scheffler offered wood-fired cowboy ribeyes, which drew this comment from three-time Masters winner Nick Faldo:
“It was all about the size of the steaks,” Nick Faldo told GOLF.com a day after the meal. “Seriously, they were closer to two pounds than a pound. The steak was that big.”
He extended his hands to the width of a football.
“Everyone was like, whhhat, I can’t eat that,” he said.
And helping wash it down? Whiskey lovers will rejoice.
Van Winkle Family Reserve Rye.
“The Van Winkle line is one of the most respected names out there and most difficult to find,” Tom Fischer, a whiskey journalist and educator who founded Bourbon Blog, told GOLF.com.
Two weeks later, at the Chevron Championship’s winner dinner, Nelly Korda was up, and her choices reportedly garnered applause. No expense had been spared. The first course featured bigeye tuna tartare flavored with cucumber, green apple and dill, and also Regiis Ova hybrid caviar, which was sourced from a caviar company co-founded by Thomas Keller, the super-chef who oversaw the meal. According to the Regiis Ova website, the Kaluga Hybrid that Korda served is “large and firm and its flavor is pure with a pleasant light after taste.” You can pick up 30 grams (approximately a single serving) for $128 or, for larger affairs, 1,000 grams for $4,000.
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‘I can’t eat that’: This Masters Champions Dinner dish dropped jaws
Next week, Schauffele is serving.
The meal, he said at this week’s Truist Championship, was designed with others’ tastes in mind — it’ll include an option for steak or fish. “I wanted everyone to be happy or to be able to eat whatever they’d like,” Schauffele said. But his gift, a PGA Championship dinner tradition, will have a personal touch.
According to a 2023 GOLF.com story, previous winners have gifted Fabergé martini glasses (Phil Mickelson), Irish drums (Padraig Harrington), Korean ceramics (Y.E. Yang), Bose speakers (Rory McIlroy) and designer wallets (Brooks Koepka). Schauffele? His offerings are “pretty fitting,” he said. They’re part of one of his pastimes.
