Xander Schauffele making first start as a married man in Scotland

Xander Schauffele is playing the Scottish Open for the first time this week. He’s also making his first start as a married man after marrying longtime girlfriend Maya Lowe in Las Vegas a week after the U.S. Open.

His two weeks overseas won’t serve as a honeymoon, however.

“No offense to anyone here but I would not choose a place that rains so much to take my honeymoon,” Schauffele said Tuesday in his pre-tournament press conference. “It's been a long time coming. … We’ve been together for quite some time and decided to make it public. We're very happy.”

Schauffele posted a photo from his wedding on his Instagram account on Monday. The wedding party included the couple’s French bulldog, who was wearing a tuxedo.

Schauffele’s best Open Championship finish came in Scotland, after he finished runner-up three years ago in Carnoustie.

Schauffele usually comes to the United Kingdom a week early with his family to get acclimated to the time zone. Because of COVID protocols, he decided to play the Scottish Open instead. He’s traveling with his caddie, former college teammate Austin Kaiser.

“I've been hanging in there,” Schauffele said. “I just had to wake up my caddie. He's staying with me and he was dozing off on the couch in a robe. We're hanging in and trying to do our best of staying outside as long as possible and just going day-to-day.

“I brought a few extra books for myself to read, so I've been taking the downtime as a positive.”

Schauffele is eighth in this season’s FedExCup standings. He does not have a win but has finished in the top 25 in 14 of his 17 starts this season, including three runners-up. He is coming off a seventh-place finish in the U.S. Open in his hometown of San Diego.

Four of the top five players in the world are playing in the Scottish Open this week: Jon Rahm, Collin Morikawa, Justin Thomas and Schauffele.