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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Xander Schauffele is done giving himself grace.
Just six rounds into his comeback from a rib injury, Schauffele’s frustration seemed to boil over as he described a game that, right now, is “pretty bad.”
Schauffele’s consecutive-cuts made streak of 58 – the sixth-longest all time – was in danger Friday at The Players as he navigated the final few holes at TPC Sawgrass. Needing a late birdie to get into the house at 1 under par, he drilled his 267-yard approach shot to 50 feet on the par-5 ninth, his final hole of the day, to set up a two-putt birdie and post that number.
It wasn’t a guarantee that he’d be around for the weekend – Data Golf had him with about a 70% chance when he finished his round – but Schauffele seemed confident he’d done just enough.
Frustratingly.
“Really bad,” he said. “Not just very good.”
“Not hitting it close enough, to duffing chips, to missing every fairway, to hitting fairways to missing greens – it’s pretty gross, to be completely honest. So if I can eke out this cut, that would be nice. But the game feels pretty bad.”
Schauffele was asked if he was being too hard on himself too soon. After all, he showed up at last week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational having played just 27 holes over the past two months, nine of which were on a par-3 course. He still managed to make the cut at Bay Hill, arguably the hardest course of the year, and he appears set to do so again at TPC Sawgrass, a punishing track that requires precision.
“I almost missed the cut on what is a pretty easy course right now,” he said, “so I don’t think so.”
Last week, Schauffele stressed the need to “pick up the pace” with his game while acknowledging that he was trying to take a long-term view of his injury. It’s one of the few times in his career that he’s been sidelined by an issue, and there’s more to the golf season, he said, than just this opening quarter.
Still, it’s clear his patience is already being tested.
“Surprisingly, it feels kind of close, which is pretty sick to say,” he said. “I know a lot of guys say that, but I’ll get a little bit cozier on the range and get in a decent pattern, and then as soon as I get on the course, it seems to get a little bit more crooked. I’m not sure if it’s something setup related or something that I’m not doing that I do on the range, but it feels pretty bad.”
The statistics support that assessment through two rounds. A year ago, when he narrowly finished second, he ranked inside the top 20 in every statistical category. But when he finished his round Friday, he was 36th off the tee, 115th with his approach, and outside the top 40 in both putting and scrambling.
This isn’t an easy stretch during which to return – he’s undecided for next week’s Valspar Championship – and it’s made even tougher by his doctors’ orders to lighten his usual ball count on the range.
“I’m supposed to,” he said, “but I’m about to blow that out of the water this afternoon.”
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Just six rounds into his comeback from a rib injury, Schauffele’s frustration seemed to boil over as he described a game that, right now, is “pretty bad.”
Schauffele’s consecutive-cuts made streak of 58 – the sixth-longest all time – was in danger Friday at The Players as he navigated the final few holes at TPC Sawgrass. Needing a late birdie to get into the house at 1 under par, he drilled his 267-yard approach shot to 50 feet on the par-5 ninth, his final hole of the day, to set up a two-putt birdie and post that number.
It wasn’t a guarantee that he’d be around for the weekend – Data Golf had him with about a 70% chance when he finished his round – but Schauffele seemed confident he’d done just enough.
Frustratingly.
“Really bad,” he said. “Not just very good.”
“Not hitting it close enough, to duffing chips, to missing every fairway, to hitting fairways to missing greens – it’s pretty gross, to be completely honest. So if I can eke out this cut, that would be nice. But the game feels pretty bad.”
Schauffele was asked if he was being too hard on himself too soon. After all, he showed up at last week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational having played just 27 holes over the past two months, nine of which were on a par-3 course. He still managed to make the cut at Bay Hill, arguably the hardest course of the year, and he appears set to do so again at TPC Sawgrass, a punishing track that requires precision.
“I almost missed the cut on what is a pretty easy course right now,” he said, “so I don’t think so.”
Last week, Schauffele stressed the need to “pick up the pace” with his game while acknowledging that he was trying to take a long-term view of his injury. It’s one of the few times in his career that he’s been sidelined by an issue, and there’s more to the golf season, he said, than just this opening quarter.
Still, it’s clear his patience is already being tested.
“Surprisingly, it feels kind of close, which is pretty sick to say,” he said. “I know a lot of guys say that, but I’ll get a little bit cozier on the range and get in a decent pattern, and then as soon as I get on the course, it seems to get a little bit more crooked. I’m not sure if it’s something setup related or something that I’m not doing that I do on the range, but it feels pretty bad.”
The statistics support that assessment through two rounds. A year ago, when he narrowly finished second, he ranked inside the top 20 in every statistical category. But when he finished his round Friday, he was 36th off the tee, 115th with his approach, and outside the top 40 in both putting and scrambling.
This isn’t an easy stretch during which to return – he’s undecided for next week’s Valspar Championship – and it’s made even tougher by his doctors’ orders to lighten his usual ball count on the range.
“I’m supposed to,” he said, “but I’m about to blow that out of the water this afternoon.”
Continue reading...
