World No.2 Xander Schauffele has credited his selfish streak for his rise to the top of the golf world, though he acknowledges it might not be his wife Maya’s favorite trait.

The Californian golfer has had a banner year, snagging his first two major titles with victories at the PGA Championship in May and then triumphing at The Open a few months later.

Schauffele, 30, recognizes that a certain level of self-centeredness is often seen in elite athletes, especially in an individual sport like golf. Yet, he also understands the importance of team camaraderie during events such as the Presidents Cup.

“I think so. I tell my wife that. I don’t know if she’s the hugest fan of that,” Schauffele admitted to journalists at the team event when questioned about the necessity of selfishness for reaching the pinnacle of golf. “But I’m pretty selfish.”

“Selfish to yourself, I think the captains do a really good job. All of us need to do what we normally do, and there’s a lot of stuff that we don’t normally do during an individual week that we do during a team week, whether it’s sort of the timed dinners or photos or a gala or you name it.”

He went on to commend the captains for their meticulous work in team organization and lauded the support staff for their “incredible job” in ensuring the players are ready to compete with as little stress as possible.

PGA Championship - Final Round

Schauffele won the US PGA Championship earlier this season 

Image:

(Image: Getty))

He’s among the superstar talents teeing off for the US Presidents Cup team at The Royal Montreal Golf Club in Quebec. World No1 Scottie Scheffler, two-time major-winner Collin Morikawa and one-time U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark are also part of the 12-man squad.

Hideki Matsuyama, Sungjae Im and Adam Scott are some of the more familiar faces leading the International team, captained by Canadian Mike Weir.

While he may have a bit of a selfish streak, it also requires a lot of humility to acknowledge that about oneself. And it certainly hasn’t hindered Schauffele’s success on the course as he’s made his way to the top of the sport over the past year.