Xander Schauffele conceded that NBA icon Michael Jordan outplayed him in their match.
The PGA Championship winner, who took home his first major title last month, made the stunning revelation during practice for the Memorial Tournament.
In a Golf on CBS video, Schauffele wore a microphone as he conversed with former PGA Tour golfer Cole Knost.
⛹🏿🏌🏻♂️ Xander Schauffele played a match with Michael Jordan recently: “He beat me straight up which is embarrassing…”
— NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) June 10, 2024
(Via: @GolfonCBS)
pic.twitter.com/Vcf7nZmtir
Knost asked Schauffele if he’s ever played golf with the Bulls champ, noting it’s ‘really hard to s**t talk him.’
‘I did my best version of it — and then he beat me,’ Schauffele said.
Xander Schauffele admitted to being outplayed by NBA icon Michael Jordan in his own domain.
One thing to keep in mind is that it was at MJ’s course, where he designed it specifically to fit his game. When you’re the GOAT of basketball, you can do what you want…right?
Slightly misleading headlines here (we know, it’s the internet and we wanted you to click), he beat him on 2 holes, 15-16 not the entire round.
‘Straight up. Embarrassing,’ Schauffele went on, explaining that Jordan beat him ‘in the last three holes.’
‘I pancaked him on his stroke holes, and I started talking s–t to him and he got all quiet [and] focused. And then he birdied 15-16, no strokes. Beat me straight up. And I was like, “All right.”‘
Knost joked that it was ‘weird he came through when he needed to,’ and the pair agreed that Jordan was great at chipping and putting.
The 61-year-old basketball icon was known for his trash talk during his NBA career, a trait that seems to have endured long after his playing days.
Former NHL player Ryan Whitney, co-host of Barstool Sports’ Spittin’ Chiclets podcast, fondly recounted a golfing excursion with the six-time NBA champion.
‘He doesn’t say a word to me,’ Whitney said on his podcast in March. ‘We get to 17, it’s the 35th hole of the day, par five, I’m on [the green] in two. He’s dead.’
Jordan countered with a birdie to stay competitive, while Whitney failed to sink his own birdie putt.
‘First thing he said all day was, ”That’s right, b****,”’ Whitney recalled.
— Neil Parker (@NeilParkerBets) June 10, 2024
‘So then we go to 36. I finish the last hole. Another press, lose that hole too. He’s like, ”A scratch golfer … B**** you couldn’t scratch my wife’s a**. I just left. I just paid him 10 grand and left.
‘I felt this big [holding fingers closely apart]. He’s pumping rap tunes the whole time that say his name in the song. I was like, ”What planet am I on right now?”