ORLANDO — After stewing on the couch at home in Jupiter, Fla., with his French bulldog Chewy by his side for most of the past eight weeks, Xander Schauffele makes his return to competitive golf at this week’s $20 million Arnold Palmer Invitational. It’s not a moment too soon.
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“It felt like a lifetime,” said Schauffele, who suffered a rib injury in December, gutted out four rounds at The Sentry to begin the season and also made an appearance in the TGL opener, but then he had to shut it down to let it heal properly.
Ranked No. 3 in the world, Schauffele admitted that Bay Hill Club isn’t the most ideal venue for a guy with an achy side, given the difficulty of the layout bordered by a generous amount of rough, but, then again, the place did help inform him rather quickly whether or not he could handle the rigors of swinging a club for 72 holes.
“One of my first things I did yesterday when I played, teed off on 10 and hit the fairway, and then first thing I did was throw a ball in the rough and take a swipe at it,” Schauffele said. “I was telling Austin [Kaiser, his caddie], ‘If this doesn’t go well then I’m going to get in my car and drive back to Jupiter.’
“So, yeah, is there concern? I’m not really too concerned right now, to be honest. I feel like I’ve been pretty conservative with everything. Hopefully that pays off. If things go south, I won’t be scared to back off, just because it’s, you know, what’s down the road is more important.”
Down the road are important events, including his title defenses at the PGA Championship in May and the British Open in July. Schauffele enjoyed a breakthrough season overshadowed only by the seven-win campaign that Scottie Scheffler assembled in winning Player of the Year and cementing his place atop the World Ranking.
When he first noticed that something wasn’t quite right with his ribs on his right side in mid-December, Schauffele sluffed off concern. “There were some [alarm] bells that I ignored,” he said. “There was no sort of, ‘Oh, shoot, my rib’s killing me,’ that kind of moment where, like it was in the gym or swinging. It was a kind of perfect storm. Trainer had to go back, renew his visa. I was left on my own and, apparently, I’m still a toddler. I kept training and golfing and training and golfing, and I’m used to having someone either hold my hand or do something as simple as soft tissue. I didn’t get any help, and I think that is sort of what put my back against the wall.”
An MRI showed that he had suffered an intercostal strain and a cartilage tear.
He tried to come back for the Genesis Invitational at Torrey Pines, a favorite site for the San Diego native, but after playing nine holes, Schauffele knew he wasn’t ready.
In the last few days, Schauffele has played nine holes on a par-3 course with Justin Thomas, another 18 at home and competed Monday in another TGL event. This week at Bay Hill he has survived another 27 holes without incident. Previous to these outings, not taking any chances, he underwent a battery of tests including a CT scan, and MRI and an ultrasound. No inflammation was evident in any of them.
Now, he has to get himself mentally ready for a tough test followed by next week’s Players Championship, where he finished runner-up behind Scheffler. Fortunately, Schauffele, 31, has been giving his brain a good workout in the intervening weeks.
“I would be lying if I said I was in the most comfortable position ever. I’ve been practicing mentally to convince myself that I’m still in some crazy good form,” he said. “Trying to use that sort of low expectation with serious focus to try and get the most out of what you’re doing. Just think about all the greats that have had to take some time off and came back and played really well.
“I think Scottie came back [from a hand injury], and he wasn’t close to winning but played pretty decent and put himself back in the mix, so I don’t see why I can’t do that.”
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
