Xander Schauffele Ties For 2nd At The Players Championship
2016 SDSU graduate Xander Schauffele is playing very much in contention among golf’s elite on the PGA Tour.
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If Schauffele continues to play strong on Tour he could very well find a place on the 2018 Ryder Cup team.
At just 24 years of age, recent San Diego State University graduate and PGA Tour professional Xander Schauffele is finding his way onto professional golf’s center stage.
Schauffele started his career off with a bang by winning two PGA Tour events, the Greenbriar Classic and the TOUR Championship, during his 2017 rookie debut. He also managed to turn heads taking 5th place in the 2017 U.S. Open, considered the most difficult tournament in golf.
After his strong debut last season, Xander Schauffele was honored as 2017 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year.
While 2018 started off sluggish for the reigning ROTY, it all changed this past week when Schauffele tied for 2nd at TPC Sawgrass. This is no small feat.
The Players Championship, or TPC Sawgrass, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, is different than other golf events. While golf is a spectator sport, TPC is kicks it up a notch with the concept of stadium golf, meaning it is designed to have large, sometimes raucous crowds who cheer instead of gingerly clapping when players manage to impress.
TPC is also known as the “fifth major.” Falling right in between The Masters and the U.S. Open, the tournament carries a lot of weight, and its trophy is truly coveted. TPC Sawgrass is the king of non-major tournaments.
In his TPC debut, Schauffele had little trouble adjusting to the rigors of the Stadium Course, opening with rounds of 68-68 and closing with a 5-under 67 to for a share of second place, four shots behind TPC winner Webb Simpson.
“I felt like it was just a week where things slowly started to click, ball-striking wise,” Schauffele said. “It was just one of those weeks where I had a bad attitude early and sort of turned it around. It just kind of shows what a good attitude can do, just because I feel like if you talked to my team on Tuesday or Wednesday night, it wasn’t looking too pretty.”
He now feels ready to go on a tear like the one he experienced last summer.
“It’s just good golf,” Schauffele said. “I feel like I’m just starting to come into whatever form you would call it, and looking forward to some more tournaments.”
Schauffele has now moved from 32nd to 14th in the rankings among the Americans contending for a spot on the 2018 Ryder Cup team. The American team normally selects ten players, and if Schauffele continues to win, he could be selected to represent America in only his second year on tour.
Such a feat would be remarkable.
The Aztec Nation congratulates Xander Schauffele for a stellar performance.