{"id":15545720,"date":"2024-07-22T17:26:37","date_gmt":"2024-07-22T21:26:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/golf.com\/?post_type=article&#038;p=15545720"},"modified":"2024-07-25T19:13:22","modified_gmt":"2024-07-25T23:13:22","slug":"xander-schauffele-open-championship-callaway","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/golf.com\/gear\/golf-balls\/xander-schauffele-open-championship-callaway\/","title":{"rendered":"How this &#8216;no-brainer&#8217; Xander Schauffele gear swap gave him more control"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"first\">To win an Open Championship, you need a bag full of tricks to handle the unpredictability. For four days at Royal Troon, Mother Nature threw down the gauntlet and forced every player in the <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/instruction\/xander-schauffele-dominant-all-around-game-timeless-tips\/\">2024 Open Championship<\/a> field to use every tool in the bag and get comfortable with being uncomfortable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When the difficulty was cranked up to expert level, only <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/instruction\/driving\/xander-schauffele-step-up-driver-drill\/\">Xander Schauffele managed<\/a> to find another gear down the stretch and prevail. It&#8217;s easy to look at Schauffele&#8217;s final round performance and chalk it up to mental fortitude. But that&#8217;s only one part of the equation. The tools have to perform under the gun as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In Schauffele&#8217;s case, every tool in the bag came up clutch in the big moments, especially <a href=\"https:\/\/fairwayjockey.com\/products\/callaway-2024-chrome-tour-golf-balls\">the Callaway Chrome Tour<\/a> golf ball.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<section class=\"block-shop-card gray\">\n  <a class=\"block-shop-card__inner\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/fairway-jockey.myshopify.com\/products\/callaway-2024-chrome-tour-golf-balls?utm_source=golfcom&#038;utm_medium=article&#038;utm_campaign=xander-schauffele-open-championship-callaway\">\n    <!-- Slider Module -->\n    <div class=\"g-block-wrapper--slider\">\n      <div class=\"swiper-slide\">\n        <div class=\"g-block-slider__photo\">\n          <img class=\"inner block-shop-card__image lazy\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0561\/5108\/1146\/files\/balls-2024-chrome-tour-white___1.png?v=1704310972\" data-alt=\"Callaway 2024 Chrome Tour Golf Balls\"\/>\n        <\/div>\n      <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    <!-- END Slider Module -->\n    <div class=\"block-shop-card__infos\">\n                  <h4 class=\"block-shop-card__title\">Callaway 2024 Chrome Tour Golf Balls<\/h4>\n              <pre class=\"block-shop-card__price\">$54.99<\/pre>\n            <div class=\"block-shop-card__description\">Chrome Tour is the new gold standard in Tour Balls. From core to cover, every detail in the new Chrome Tour has been optimized for the better player seeking distance &amp; feel. \nHYPER FAST SOFT CORE\nNew Hyper Fast Soft Core produces exceptionally fast ball speed for long distance.\nSEAMLESS TOUR AERO \nNew Seamless Tour Aero delivers a consistent ball flight on every shot.\nHIGH-PERFORMANCE TOUR URETHANE SOFT COVER \nNew High-Performance Tour Urethane Soft Cover consistently delivers greenside control with incredible feel.<\/div>\n      <button class=\"btn block-shop-card__cta proshop-shopify-card__cta\">\n        Buy Now      <\/button>\n    <\/div>\n  <\/a>\n  <pre class=\"apple-news-only\"><a href=\"https:\/\/fairway-jockey.myshopify.com\/products\/callaway-2024-chrome-tour-golf-balls?utm_source=golfcom&#038;utm_medium=article&#038;utm_campaign=xander-schauffele-open-championship-callaway\">View Product<\/a><\/pre>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n\n<p>Of all the <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/gear\/xander-schauffeles-2024-open-championship-winners-bag\/\">gear changes Schauffele<\/a> made at the beginning of the season, switching from a prototype version of Callaway&#8217;s Chrome Soft X into Chrome Tour appeared to be uncomplicated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;The golf ball is identical,&#8221; Schauffele said of the swap at the Sentry Tournament of Champions. &#8220;I think they just stamped a new logo on it.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If the balls were &#8220;identical,&#8221; then why switch at all? According to Callaway Tour rep Kellen Watson, it was more about the subtle performance improvements seen during testing. More specifically, how the ball managed to hold its own in blustery conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;With the improved aerodynamics, it was a no-brainer for him to switch balls,&#8221; Callaway Tour rep Kellen Watson told GOLF.com. &#8220;It&#8217;s one of those aspects pros notice when they&#8217;re testing on their own. For Xander, he was able to keep getting better in an area that didn&#8217;t require any major adjustments to his equipment. It was a compelling reason to make the switch.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While the area package on a golf ball rarely garners the attention it deserves, Callaway invested heavily in the design of a new Seamless Tour Aero package found on Chrome Tour.<\/p>\n\n\n<section class=\"g-block g-block-article-embed g-block-article-embed--align-right\">\n    <figure>\n\n        <div class=\"g-article-embedded__img-wrapper\">\n                                            <div class=\"article__category  gear\">\n                    <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/gear\/\">\n                        Gear                    <\/a>\n                <\/div>\n                        \n            <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/gear\/xander-schauffeles-2024-open-championship-winners-bag\/\">\n                <img decoding=\"async\"\n        class=\"lazy inner\"\n        src=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/xbo-1.jpg?width=30\"\n        alt=\"xander schauffele odyssey putter\"\n        data-src=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/xbo-1.jpg\"\n        data-srcset=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/xbo-1.jpg?width=300 300w, https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/xbo-1.jpg?width=720 600w, https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/xbo-1.jpg?width=1280 900w\"\n        sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, (max-width: 600px) 50vw, (max-width: 900px) 33vw, 900px\"\n        \n      \/>            <\/a>\n        <\/div>\n        <figcaption>\n            <blockquote><a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/gear\/xander-schauffeles-2024-open-championship-winners-bag\/\">Winner&#8217;s bag: Xander Schauffele&#8217;s gear at the 2024 Open Championship<\/a><\/blockquote>\n                <span class=\"author \"><span>By:<\/span>\n        <span class=\"author__inner\">\n                    <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/writers\/jonathan-wall\/\">\n                Jonathan Wall            <\/a>\n            \n                            <\/span>\n    <\/span>\n        <\/figcaption>\n    <\/figure>\n<\/section>\n\n\n<p>\u201cEach ball will have a uniquely designed aerodynamic pattern, and it\u2019s completely different from anything we\u2019ve ever done, bringing our aerodynamics into a completely different zone,\u201d said Eric Loper, Callaway\u2019s senior director, golf ball R&amp;D.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Callaway&#8217;s hexagonal dimple design remains a key part of the aero package, along with something else that won\u2019t immediately stand out: a strategically placed spherical dimple adding consistency throughout the flight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cBy managing each dimple, it enables us to focus on the ball flight from start to finish, where the ball starts off fast but as it approaches the ground the speed has significantly decreased,\u201d Loper said. \u201cThis has led us down this path of developing an industry first, it\u2019s a combination of Callaway\u2019s hexagonal surface geometry with strategically placed spherical dimples that provide stability through the entire ball flight. We\u2019ve ended up with model-specific patterns that maximize distance and improve stability over the entire ball flight, which the player will see in a variety of conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Schauffele began ball testing in mid-October and immediately noticed how much easier it was to execute shots without doing the usual mental math to account for the wind direction. But ball testing at home doesn&#8217;t pay the bills. It wasn&#8217;t until he put it to the test in competition that he saw the same results under pressure.<\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"youtube-facade\" data-content=\"\n&lt;figure class=&quot;wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio&quot;&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;wp-block-embed__wrapper&quot;&gt;\n&lt;iframe title=&quot;Why Xander Schauffele&amp;#039;s ball could change YOUR game | Fully Equipped&quot; width=&quot;640&quot; height=&quot;360&quot; src=&quot;https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/7P0an9xIMD0?feature=oembed&quot; frameborder=&quot;0&quot; allow=&quot;accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share&quot; referrerpolicy=&quot;strict-origin-when-cross-origin&quot; allowfullscreen&gt;&lt;\/iframe&gt;\n&lt;\/div&gt;&lt;\/figure&gt;\n\">\n\t<div class=\"youtube-facade__player\"><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s when you know you made the right decision,&#8221; Schauffele told GOLF.com. &#8220;When you start to see the ball handling [the windy] conditions, it allows you to be more aggressive and trust that [the ball is] going to execute the shots.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since the switch, Schauffele has won the Open Championship <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/xander-schauffele-wins-pga-championship-valhalla\/\">and PGA Championship<\/a>. Not bad for a guy who didn&#8217;t have a major to his name at the start of the season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Schauffele&#8217;s trust in his Chrome Tour ball was on full display during the final round as he attacked Royal Troon with surgical precision. Even the tough shots didn&#8217;t seem to bother the 30-year-old \u2014 like a 173-yard flyer on the par-4 11th. With the wind blowing off the left at 17 mph, Schauffele extracted the ball from the tall grass and watched as it cut through the wind and landed softly on the front edge before settling within a few feet of the hole for an improbable birdie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It&#8217;s the kind of shot that only reaffirmed his decision to switch balls in January. Shaking up a successful setup is never easy, but it makes all the hours spent testing behind the scenes worth it when the eventual outcome is major championship hardware.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Want to overhaul your bag for 2024?&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/truespecgolf.com\/?utm_source=golf.com&amp;utm_medium=article&amp;utm_campaign=2024_golf_gear_article\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Find a&nbsp;fitting location near&nbsp;you at True Spec Golf<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block wp-block--custom-html\">\n<iframe style=\"border-radius:12px\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/episode\/4rwdTzo1vY825YkyGXgYpE?utm_source=generator\" width=\"100%\" height=\"352\" frameBorder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"\" allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Open champion made several equipment changes at the start of the season, but one took his game to new heights. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":15545738,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":true,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"2024-07-22T21:26:41Z","apple_news_api_id":"df408258-89cc-492b-a733-b449e105f257","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2024-07-22T21:26:41Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/A30CCWInMSSunM7RJ4QXyVw","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[62],"tags":[578,62723,61767,62150],"class_list":["post-15545720","article","type-article","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-golf-balls","tag-callaway","tag-openchampionship","tag-walltowall","tag-xanderschauffele"],"acf":{"art_author":[{"ID":14178292,"post_author":"38","post_date":"2018-11-05 15:15:00","post_date_gmt":"2018-11-05 15:15:00","post_content":"","post_title":"Jonathan Wall","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"jonathan-wall","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-10-29 12:47:23","post_modified_gmt":"2024-10-29 16:47:23","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.golf.com\/?post_type=golf_person&#038;p=14178292","menu_order":0,"post_type":"contributor","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"art_source":"None","tee_time_button_status":false,"wsum-gated-content":false,"wsotp_enable_one_time_payment":false,"ad_meta":false,"article_template":"standard","featured_image_caption":"Schauffele lines up his golf ball during the third round of the Open Championship at Royal Troon.","featured_image_credits":"Getty Images"},"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v23.9 (Yoast SEO v23.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How this &#039;no-brainer&#039; Xander Schauffele gear swap gave him more control<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Open champion made several equipment changes at the start of the season, but one took his game to new heights.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/gear\/golf-balls\/xander-schauffele-open-championship-callaway\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How this &#039;no-brainer&#039; Xander Schauffele gear swap gave him more control\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Open champion made several equipment changes at the start of the season, but one took his game to new heights.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/gear\/golf-balls\/xander-schauffele-open-championship-callaway\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Golf\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/golf\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-07-25T23:13:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/schauffele-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1856\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1044\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@golf_com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How this 'no-brainer' Xander Schauffele gear swap gave him more control","description":"The Open champion made several equipment changes at the start of the season, but one took his game to new heights.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/golf.com\/gear\/golf-balls\/xander-schauffele-open-championship-callaway\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How this 'no-brainer' Xander Schauffele gear swap gave him more control","og_description":"The Open champion made several equipment changes at the start of the season, but one took his game to new heights.","og_url":"https:\/\/golf.com\/gear\/golf-balls\/xander-schauffele-open-championship-callaway\/","og_site_name":"Golf","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/golf\/","article_modified_time":"2024-07-25T23:13:22+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1856,"height":1044,"url":"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/schauffele-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@golf_com","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/golf.com\/gear\/golf-balls\/xander-schauffele-open-championship-callaway\/","url":"https:\/\/golf.com\/gear\/golf-balls\/xander-schauffele-open-championship-callaway\/","name":"How this 'no-brainer' Xander Schauffele gear swap gave him more control","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/golf.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/golf.com\/gear\/golf-balls\/xander-schauffele-open-championship-callaway\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/golf.com\/gear\/golf-balls\/xander-schauffele-open-championship-callaway\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/schauffele-1.jpg","datePublished":"2024-07-22T21:26:37+00:00","dateModified":"2024-07-25T23:13:22+00:00","description":"The Open champion made several equipment changes at the start of the season, but one took his game to new heights.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/golf.com\/gear\/golf-balls\/xander-schauffele-open-championship-callaway\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/golf.com\/gear\/golf-balls\/xander-schauffele-open-championship-callaway\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/golf.com\/gear\/golf-balls\/xander-schauffele-open-championship-callaway\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/schauffele-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/golf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/schauffele-1.jpg","width":1856,"height":1044,"caption":"xander schauffele callaway chrome tour golf ball"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/golf.com\/gear\/golf-balls\/xander-schauffele-open-championship-callaway\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/golf.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How this &#8216;no-brainer&#8217; 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