Xander Schauffele enters play-offs tapping into ‘dog’ mentality
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Xander Schauffele of the United States in action during the Paris Olympics.
PHOTO: REUTERS
MEMPHIS – It is not like Xander Schauffele to fall apart down the stretch of a golf tournament. But that was exactly what happened at the Olympics in Paris.
Schauffele, seeking his second straight gold medal after winning in Tokyo, was right in the mix in the fourth round until the 12th hole, where he embarked on a four-hole stretch with two bogeys and one double-bogey.
The No. 2 player in the world now wants to shake off those memories this week when the FedExCup play-offs begin at the St Jude Championship.
“I was pretty bummed out,” said the American, who had a remarkable 2024 by winning his first two Major titles at this season’s PGA Championship and British Open.
“I went from thinking I could have a good look at gold to maybe silver, then to bronze, and then to, wow, I’m just spectating now. That’s sort of what happened the last seven, eight holes of that tournament. So that was a bit of a bummer, especially with how the fans were out there.”
The winner in Paris was his rival and countryman, world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, who stormed back in the final round to add a gold medal to his six PGA Tour wins in 2024.
Schauffele recalled being “butt-hurt” about how his round played out, then having that feeling dissolve as Scheffler won the gold medal for Team USA.
“It’s hard to explain,” he said.
“I think it’s just being American. You see your flag being raised and your national anthem played, and you’re sitting there sort of humming it in your head, and you get that sort of feeling that we don’t really get too often any more.
“When Scottie was up there and our flag was raised and he started crying up there, I was butt-hurt about my own round, and then I was sitting there like, yeah, this is pretty cool. I felt so emotional in that state.”
For his part, Schauffele said he has already tried to analyse the reasons for his flop to try and avoid them over the PGA’s three-week post-season run.
“Sort of identified what happened,” he added.
“I don’t want to get back into my old habits that I’ve been trying to get out of in these last two or three months. I think some old ones sort of slipped in there. When I tried to put my foot down, it got worse, and I paid the price for it heavily.”
With the Paris Olympics now over, the tour’s elite golfers are transitioning back to standard competition with the three-week play-offs that will see the field narrowed from 70 to 50 to 30.
There is no doubt Schauffele, No. 2 entering the week, will reach the Tour Championship, but the play-offs are sure to be a grind that will send golfers from Memphis to the thin air of Denver, then back to the southern heat in Atlanta.
Some players near the top of the points list skip an early event for more rest, but Schauffele will not be among them.
“My team are talking to me about managing things correctly, being smart about it,” he said.
“And to me, I’m thinking, if you’re trying to win this thing, trying to be the best player over the course of this year, you’re going to just have to do better and be better than everyone else.
“I’ve got a really good team around me making sure I’m eating the right things, doing the right things to stay in good shape physically and mentally. But when push comes to shove, you’re going to have to be a dog at some point.” REUTERS, AFP
