Consider, too, that despite eight-figure career earnings, Schauffele still drives a Toyota Camry he bought during his Korn Ferry season. He bought a Tesla for Lowe, he said, “to do a little something for the environment.” Most pros with Schauffele’s bank account wouldn’t be caught dead near a Camry, nor would they make voluntary mention of the environment—nor tolerate California’s state taxes, for that matter.
Staying in San Diego also means staying close to Callaway, his equipment manufacturer since the start of 2018. As Schauffele has found his voice and confidence, he’s taken control of exactly what he wants in his bag.
For a guy who was raised largely tech-free—Stefan didn’t let him watch his swing on video until he was 19—he’s adapted well to the combo of art and science demanded at the game’s top level. “He’s particular, but in a constructive way,” says Dean Teykl, Schauffele’s go-to guy at Callaway. “He knows immediately; he’s really good at saying ‘that feels good’ or ‘that’s not gonna work at all.’ ”
For Schauffele, golf ball fitting took the longest. “Every pro has to decide what they want from their ball,” he says. He took Callaway’s new Chrome Soft line out for a combine, shaping shots, hitting every club, chipping, putting. His specific demand was for his spin rates to stay up when hitting knockdown irons.
With the driver, Schauffele got involved even earlier. Callaway’s engineers consulted him on what would become the new Mavrik, from the molding of the head to where the mass sits on the face. When he got a prototype in hand last fall, just before his first-ever Presidents Cup, his decision was simple.
“I kind of kept it on the down-low, just because I didn’t want anybody to get concerned that I was throwing a new driver in on the spot, but it was sort of love at first sight,” Schauffele says. “Plus, I’d been working with them on the design forever, so it’s not like it was brand new.”
