This article was originally written when Matti Schmid contended at the 2024 THE PLAYERS Championship. It has been updated as Schmid contends down the back nine on Sunday at the 2026 PGA Championship.

Leading entering the back nine of the PGA Championship, German Matti Schmid has been making headlines for his strong play to outlast the tough conditions this week at Aronimink Golf Club.

Looking to join an exclusive club of those who earned their first PGA TOUR win at a major championship, here are five things to know about Schmid:

1. Schmid was a decorated amateur

Schmid, 26, played collegiately for Louisville and men’s golf coach Ted Schulz, who played the PGA TOUR in the 1980s and ’90s and won four times. (Schulz is still a mentor.)

Schmid’s 69.91 stroke average in 2019-20 was second-best in school history, and he also led the Cardinals in ’20-21 (72.03), when he ranked 19th in the PGA TOUR University rankings.

He also was a back-to-back winner of the European Amateur and won the Silver Medal for low amateur (T59) at The Open Championship 2021 at Royal St. George’s.

Schmid tied the mark for low round by an amateur that week with his second-round 65.

2. He still lives in Germany

Schmid still sets up camp in his home country, calling the town of Maxhütte-Haidhof his home.

Having established his U.S. base in Jacksonville Beach, Florida, Schmid enjoys practicing and playing at TPC Sawgrass when spending time in the states.

He’ll also have plenty of support from Germany. He learned the game from his father, Roland, a golf professional in Germany. Roland and his uncle, Marcus, are commonplace alongside Schmid at his biggest tournaments.

3. He has a sense of humor

Schmid and fellow German Stephan Jaeger get into darts competitions out on TOUR between rounds. At the THE PLAYERS, the two had a heated matchup.

The stakes: If one of the golfers won, Florian Bauer, head of golf for Sky Sports Germany, would have to work in a few nonsense words of the golfers’ choosing on the air. If the broadcaster won, the losing golfer would have to do "The Saw," a famous celebration in German soccer, on the 18th green.

Bauer won, and Schmid lost a playoff with Jaeger. That mean that Schmid, and after making a short par putt on 18 on Thursday, had to do "The Saw" (think fist pump), which he did.

“Kind of hoped the guys would have forgot about it,” Schmid said, “but no, they were there to remind me.” He shrugged. “Maybe it’s lucky.”

“Maybe I should have lost (at darts), I would have played a little better,” said Jaeger.

Added Bauer, “If I come over here, I always do challenges – with Sepp, for example, we did schnitzel cooking and had a judge taste the two versions of it and I lost.”

4. He's had mixed success on TOUR

Schmid missed his first six cuts of the 2024 season but seemed to find something in his seventh at the Puerto Rico Open, as he tied for 10th despite a final-round 73.

“I took a big off-season,” he said. “Thought I needed it after a long season and I hadn't had things clicking at all early in the season, but last week was great. It was so much better, closer to what I've been doing end of last season. Yeah, just want to keep following that trend.”

Added Jaeger, “He’s got the game … He just needs to feel comfortable out here and obviously a great start for him.”

In 2026, Schmid has made nine of 13 cuts, with three top tens.

5. He had some help from Michael Campbell’s old coach

Schmid, who uses a broomstick putter like Adam Scott and others, had Jonathan Yarwood, who coached 2005 US Open Champion Michael Campbell, look at his swing. But the two are not formally working together.

“I mean, we had a couple sessions, yeah, but I'm not full-time with him,” said Schmid, whose eagle at 16 left him with a field-leading three for the week (he eagled Nos. 9 and 11 on Thursday).