NORTH BERWICK, Scotland (AP) — The best thing Xander Schauffele has going for him in the worst season of his career is a good attitude. That much was evident Tuesday when he walked into the media center at the Scottish Open and saw his picture.
It was on a wall beneath a sign that said, “TOILETS.”
“That was heartwarming,” Schauffele said with a grin that never seems too far away. “Summed up how I feel about what's going on right now. I actually chuckled when I saw that one.”
He is the only American to win the Scottish Open over the last 10 years. He defends his title next week in the British Open, a victory that made him a double major winner in 2024, which allowed him to take his place among the elite in golf.
That can feel like much longer than a year ago.
Schauffele had reason to have big expectations this year. What he didn't see coming was a twinge in his ribs to start the season in Hawaii that turned out to be much worse — an intercostal strain and a cartilage tear.
He missed two months with the first significant injury of his career. He has not been the same since then, with only one top-10 finish, a tie for eighth in the Masters. His greatest achievement was extending his cut streak on the PGA Tour to 67 consecutive tournaments, the longest such streak in 20 years.
“I probably downplayed it in my own mind — ‘Yeah, you’ll be fine, you’ve been playing great golf, you just came off the best year of your career’ — and I’ve backed it up currently with the worst year of my career. It’s been a hot one.”
This is not where he expected to be coming into the final stretch of the year.
“The belief is good,” he said. "I don't think I've given myself a lot of reasons to believe that I'm playing OK. It's been a pretty bad year to be completely honest. ... I think the best part of my game has probably been my mental just fortitude, whatever you want to call it, just to try to stay positive and behave as if I am playing really well.
"But coming off a year like last year, getting hurt, coming back, my expectations and playing ability have not cued up very nicely.”
The injury is no longer an issue. The game has looked good at times. What he lacks is a spark, which comes from results, to get him going.
Schauffele has great discipline that gets lost behind that San Diego vibe of his. He chose to not add tournaments to his schedule to make up for lost time, even though he finds himself chasing this late in the year.
He won twice as a rookie, including the Tour Championship. Chasing is not something he does.
The Ryder Cup is not an issue. Winning the PGA Championship and the British Open has allowed him to stay at No. 2 in the U.S. standings.
But he is at No. 57 in the FedEx Cup — only the top 70 make the postseason — and these two weeks on links golf could go a long way toward making sure he gets there.
“It's been a weird year for me just from coming off the year I had last year into sort of what I did, just kind of disappearing and then playing bad coming out of it,” he said. “So any expectation I had of whatever I thought I was capable of doing from a feel standpoint has been sort of reset, and I am in full chase mode, like a kid.”
He hopes links golf will be part of the tonic.
Part of Schauffele wishes he could have come earlier across the Atlantic, where he could play golf that consists of seeing the target and hitting the ball, nothing more complicated than that.
“Something about being here, you start taking your hands off the wheel, and that’s how I played my best,” he said.
Schauffele was in peak form a year ago. He broke through with his first major at the PGA Championship that asked a lot of him on a soft course at Valhalla, particularly the last hole. He had to stand in a bunker to play a shot from the rough with a 4-iron, the ball well above his feet, water down the right side. From there, he pitched to 6 feet and swirled in the birdie putt for a one-shot victory over Bryson DeChambeau.
Two months later, he withstood rain and wind at Royal Troon with a 65 in the final round to give him a second major. He was No. 2 in the world. Scottie Scheffler was still miles ahead, but Schauffele was at a point where he felt he could win wherever he played.
Those were happy times. This only feels like the worst of times. There is also something about the chase that takes him back to being a kid, when he wasn't the highly recruited star and was virtually an unknown before he earned his recognition.
This feels like starting over.
“I’ve been spoiled to play at a pretty high level for quite some time,” he said. “This has been a fun experience to try to get back on the horse.”
___
On The Fringe analyzes the biggest topics in golf during the season. AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
