Xander Schauffele's enormous LIV Golf offer as dad explains why he rejected it

Xander Schauffele could have made up to £148million ($200m) from a switch to the LIV Golf breakaway tour, but his father urged him to opt for silverware success over monetary gain. The American PGA Tour player is preparing to return to The Open Championship this week, with the aim to make it back-to-back titles with a win at Royal Portrush.

The 31-year-old has plenty of support in his corner, including his former coach and supportive father Stefan – who has been more influential in the golfer's career than many would expect. In fact, Stefan was a crucial part in Xander's decision-making when it came to staying loyal to the PGA Tour over the LIV Golf circuit, after the American was offered between £111m ($150m) and £148m ($200m) to swap allegiances.

However, Schauffele decided to stick with PGA, due to the lack of world-ranking points potentially affecting his ability to play in major golf tournaments.

In an interview with The Times earlier this month, Stefan admitted that he opposed the multi-million dollar move to LIV Golf to his son due to the potential of missing out on major trophies. He said: "They could’ve doubled the money and we still wouldn’t do it."

This big-money decision proved to be worthwhile, as Schauffele went on to win both the PGA Championship and The Open Championship in the same year. The 31-year-old pocketed around £5m in prize money for the two major wins, with£2.3m handed to the champion at The Open and £2.5m at the PGA Championship.

However, Schauffele had already seen big success with his dad, Stefan, acting as his swing coach and agent at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. The American secured the gold medal in the men's individual event, which was a big moment in his golfing career and his father's life.

Speaking about his golden moment, Xander said: "That was a seriously emotional moment."

The victory clearly meant a lot to Stefan as well, as he added: "You’re going to make me cry just thinking about it. He understood how huge the Olympics was for me. We got in the car and he gave me the medal and said, 'This is for you.'"

Schauffele will be hoping to add to his prize pot, trophy cabinet and his father's pride at this year's Open Championship, with the last major trophy of the season up for grabs.

However, he will have some fierce competition to retain the Claret Jug, with Grand Slam star Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler looking to land their second major victory of the year.