It was a tough 2025 season for Xander Schauffele, but after a result at the end of the year in Japan, he could be back to his best.
He won two major championships in 2024 and looked to be the next player to challenge Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy as the two best players in the game. But injuries plagued Schauffele’s 2025, and he didn’t contend at the majors last season.
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The American was struggling to find his best golf as he recovered from a right rib injury, and looked like a lost soul in the buildup to the Ryder Cup. However, in his final event of the year, he showed signs of life.
Schauffele won the Baycurrent Classic in front of his family in Japan to round off the year. Then, he took some months off to spend time with his new-born son. But what happened to him at the Ryder Cup gives Schauffele confidence that he can quickly regain the form he found in Japan.
Photo by Philip FONG / AFP via Getty Images
Why Xander Schauffele was surprised by his play at the Ryder Cup
We haven’t seen Schauffele in action since the Baycurrent Classic in October, but he’s ready to make his return to PGA Tour action at the Farmers Insurance Open this week.
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He was asked how long it would take to shake off the rust, and he said that, judging by the Ryder Cup, not too long! Speaking to reporters, he said, “I mean, just depends on, you know, I think carrying a kid, I’m learning like just so slowly, you get like dad shoulder, neck’s all messed up, you know what I mean?
“Stuff just happens when you’re holding like a 15-pound, 20-pound bowling ball all day. I can’t imagine how my wife feels, to be honest. Yeah, straighten that out. That was a little bit of a learning curve there.
“I think if I can play enough – I’ve been trying to play like as many 18-hole matches just at home with friends or other pros in town just to kind of sharpen up, just to get something in the veins going just because it’s been quite some time.
“Even before Japan, I missed East Lake, had the little one, played the Ryder Cup. I was like kind of shocked with how well I played, to be completely honest, and had Japan, and I played no golf in the last six months it feels like.”
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Schauffele was Team USA’s top points scorer at Bethpage Black, going 3-0-1 during the event. He reminded the world just how good he was, then returned to winning ways shortly after. If that’s anything to go by, it’s set to be a triumphant season for Schauffele.
Xander Schauffele says what he learned from the Baycurrent Classic
It’s been a few months since Schauffele returned to the winners circle, but it was his last event. He was therefore asked whether he expects the momentum built in Japan to outweigh the time off.
He answered, “It feels like I’m starting from scratch. The win kind of — I thought I did a lot of things really well that week and kind of got in the right mindset even though I was a bit rusty golf-wise.
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“Definitely learned some things that week about sort of the mentality and sort of how focused of an approach I can actually have throughout a week of golf. Yeah, I’m going to play a lot of golf coming up here in the next two months. The hope and my goal is sort of tap back into some of that focus.”
He was going to spend the time off whether he won or not, so he might as well build some positive memories before the break! It will be interesting to see just how rusty Schauffele is at Torrey Pines, however.
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