ORLANDO — Xander Schauffele is glad he got that out of the way.
It wasn’t just that the two-time major winner was coming back from a rib injury after eight weeks on the sidelines, but that he also was doing so on one of the tougher layouts on the PGA Tour. But he got in four rounds and he did so without hurting himself. Oh, and he started to play decently, too.
“Yeah, that was the biggest thing,” Schauffele said on Sunday after shooting a three-under-par 69 in the final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational. “That’s probably the biggest one of the week [after] just not being able to play enough golf. Coming in here, kind of was rolling the dice a little bit, all the [medical] scans between, but super happy with how I feel. Definitely with the added golf, didn’t feel any strain or any worse, so that’s a big bonus.”
Schauffele, ranked third in the world, finished at four-over 292. Playing alone after teeing off first, he recorded three birdies and an eagle against two bogeys. Most pleasing was that he toured Bay Hill Club gaining strokes off the tee and around the greens, needing just 25 putts after beginning the signature event with 32 putts in an opening 77.
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Now he is off to the Players Championship, where he tied for second place last year behind Scottie Scheffler. He wouldn’t count himself out or in any way minimize his chances, choosing to not make excuses for how he might handle TPC Sawgrass.
“I mean, I’m trying to convince myself to be in a good spot mentally, regardless,” he said. “I don’t have to shake off whatever I can this week, but I can’t sit all year long and feel sorry for myself, like, ‘Ah, I’m just rusty. I haven’t played,’ that stuff. Doesn’t matter in any sport. So it is what it is, and I’m going to have to pick up the pace.
“If I could hit it … I feel like I hit it pretty good today. All in all, not bad,” Schauffele, 31, added. “I definitely wanted to work on a few things. It was nice to just be by myself. I can kind of get my own head and try and work on some stuff on a pretty scary property. So I thought overall it was pretty close. Definitely some shots. I’m happy with, some I’m not, but more good than bad today.”
To prepare for the Masters, Schauffele is contemplating adding another event, perhaps the Valspar Championship in Tampa in two weeks or the Valero Texas Open the week before he heads to Augusta National.
“Just have to see how I feel,” he said. “I mean, two weeks in a row. I [haven’t] played golf. I played 27 holes coming into this week—and nine of them were on a par 3 [course]. So, it’s like I need to see how the body’s feeling. If I’m tired at all or if I feel good.”
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
