World No. 1 ranking is main motivator for Xander Schauffele

CASTLE ROCK – Whichever golfer wins next week’s Tour Championship will also hoist the FedExCup – and he will go home with a combined US$25 million (S$32.7 million).

But world No. 2 Xander Schauffele said on Aug 20 ahead of this week’s BMW Championship in Castle Rock, Colorado, that there is a different motivating factor on his mind at this stage of his career – turning that No. 2 into a No. 1.

It will not happen any time soon because Scottie Scheffler has built up an unimpeachable lead in the Official World Golf Ranking’s points system. In almost any other situation, Schauffele – who won his first two Majors this season – would have done enough to ascend to No. 1.

“Becoming No. 1 in the world? It’s a very big goal of mine,” he said.

“I’ve been told that Scottie is an outlier in several years, and I would be (No. 1). But it’s not really good enough, is it?

“But that doesn’t take away from what I’ve done or how I feel. I’m proud with the work that I’ve put in and with the people that are around me and that have helped me. I’m just going to keep knocking. That’s what I do.”

The Tokyo Olympic champion also spoke about how he feels regarding his rivalry with Scheffler, who added a Paris Games gold medal to his six PGA Tour victories this season.

For the second straight week, the two Americans were paired together for the first two rounds of the BMW, the middle of three legs of the FedExCup play-offs.

Schauffele was asked if he ever gets caught up in the battle between them – they are competing not only for FedExCup points and world-ranking points, but also the PGA Tour Player of the Year award.

“I feel like we kind of look at it in a similar fashion. We’re really just playing against ourselves and the golf course,” he said. “Some days you play really well and shoot 69 and some days you kind of play crappy and shoot 66. So I think sticking to your process, what’s gotten us this far, is going to be important and not really getting too emotional about what’s happening around us.”

The 30-year-old pointed out that Scheffler has earned every bit of the US$29.1 million he has won this season as he has been that much better than the field. Schauffele ranks second on the money list in 2024 at US$17.6 million.

“If you look at how much the 10th-best player in the world has made, it’s not going to sniff how much Scottie has made,” Schauffele said. “That just shows you how well Scottie has played in these big tournaments.

“You look at the No. 1 quarterback (in American football), he’s getting US$60 million and then the No. 10 quarterback is getting 52, and then No. 15 is getting 39 or 40. So it’s hard to compare the one-v-one because Scottie has just been that much more elite, and I think he deserves everything that he’s getting.” REUTERS