KAWAGOE, Japan—Four feet between his golf ball and the cup was all that separated Xander Schauffele from an Olympic gold medal, and he couldn’t help but let his mind wander.
For Schauffele, it would be as special as a major, the championships that have eluded him far too many times, most recently at the Masters—and for his father, an Olympic medal to share after his own aspirations ended in a horrific car accident that cost him his left eye.