If someone invents a magic wand that reduces ten handicap points with the shout of abracadabra, please let us know. While you’re at it, call Xander Schauffele too, and quickly. The Californian is looking for a way to shave off four strokes before the Masters and knows he’s running out of time. That’s why he decided at the last minute to silence his phone to avoid seeing messages from the doctor and signed up for the Valspar Championship taking place this week in Tampa.
“Careful, Xander, playing three weeks in a row just after a rib injury is too much,” the doctor told him. Don’t think that last year’s PGA and Open champion is irresponsible. It’s just that he doesn’t know any other way to get his golf in order. “Last week I already exceeded the maximum number of balls I’m allowed to hit on the practice range. I wish I were one of those who play twelve tournaments a year and manage to win some. I’d love that. But I’m not like that. I need to play and compete, so for now, I have no other path. I feel good, I think I’m close, and it’s just about having more repetitions,” he explains.
Schauffele ended last year with an average score of 68.52. It was the second-best on the PGA Tour behind, of course, Scottie Scheffler. This year, in the three tournaments he’s played, he averages 72.33. Night and day. And among those tournaments is the Sentry, where few are made by punishment. In the last two weeks, THE PLAYERS and Arnold Palmer, the average is 74.125. Five strokes and a bit more than last year. In the last eight rounds, only once has he gone below 70 strokes. Of his last 32 rounds last year, he went below 70 strokes on 24 occasions.
The World Number 3, the best player at the Valspar this week by world ranking, knows he has to be patient, not too demanding, lower expectations, but at the same time wants to be competitive at the Masters. These are the demons he’s dealing with right now. “I’m new to this because it’s the first time I’ve been injured, and it’s not easy to manage these mixed feelings. I’d like to be hitting balls from sunrise to sunset, I want to hit a million balls, but I know I can’t. Even if it doesn’t seem like it, I still expect a lot from myself, and I understand that to improve, you have to be tough,” he explains.
In short, Schauffele is seeking the balance between patience and immediate performance. Bad travel companions. Meanwhile, he believes the key to shedding those five strokes might lie with his father. More specifically, in something he often repeated to him. “Focus more on the ball and not so much on the swing,” Xander confesses. That is, put aside the obsession with technique, videos, and making the perfect move, and feel the shot more, look at the ball, and learn from what you see with your eyes. “I think I’m too picky with the swing and need to think more about playing with more freedom,” he suggests. He needs to change his perspective.
Old habits die hard, so when asked if he’ll play another tournament before the Masters, Schauffele can’t lie. “My doctors and my team want the Valspar to be the last, but we’ll see how I come out of here. I want to be well-prepared for the Masters, feeling like I have options, and if that means I need to play another tournament, we’ll see…” he concludes.
