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MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 2, 2018

Xander Schauffele

Augusta, Georgia

THE MODERATOR: Like to welcome Xander Schauffele. Great year last year. Your big wins at the Greenbrier and I guess the TOUR Championship. So would you like to just comment first on what sort of preparation you've put into getting ready for the Masters tournament this week.
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Well, I found the slickest and sloppiest greens in San Diego, which is San Diego Country Club, and I tried to play there a few times before I came out, and Charley Hoffman and‑‑ I played with him a few times, and he told me to do that. And I know Phil has gone out there a bunch, being a San Diego native guy. And it's kind of tricky to prepare for something like this, and I just did that.
THE MODERATOR: And your impression of playing the course so far this weekend.
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, it's beautiful. We just spoke about this is my first time being on property with fans and patrons, so it definitely has a different look to it. The greens look much smaller when‑‑ all these huge, green grass versus an outline of people everywhere around the greens. It sort of allows you to hone in, hopefully don't hit any of them. But, yeah, it's beautiful.
THE MODERATOR: Questions, please?

Q. When did you first come here to play a practice round? How many times? And, secondly, did San Diego help or not?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: No, it did not help, to answer that second question. It was a little bumpier and slower than what we have out here. I came out about three or four weeks ago, just for two days. It was when it was pouring down and about 45 degrees. So it was honestly quite miserable, to be honest.
I was so excited to be here, and there was only about two or three members that flew in from England to play, and they were manning the storm, and my caddie and I and one of the local caddies here were manning the storm. I didn't play any holes, I just walked and kind of looked and rolled some balls, because I was freezing.

Q. You didn't play when you came?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: The first day I didn't play. I played maybe six holes, but it was pointless because I was freezing. The next day I showed up and it was clear, but it was about 34 degrees, so I had a different look. All the guys in the shop are joking that this is the hardest the course can play, so...

Q. Talk about your dad and your relationship with him as your swing coach and the work that you do with him and if that continues to be your only coach, and to what extent did he, has he helped you as you prepare for the Masters now.
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, it's‑‑ I guess he's prepared me my whole life for this moment. Fair enough to say. We're a close team, and he's my‑‑ he's been my only swing coach. I've read articles and spoke with other coaches with him around or without him, but I've never taken a lesson from anybody else.
So everything he knows, I know now. So we sort of share our thoughts when I'm struggling, and we seem to figure anything out. And so far he's always told me if I feel like he's not going to get me to where I want to be, I can fire him and hire someone else. But I think we're moving along swiftly.

Q. Has he been with you during practice rounds and been out here this week and working with you as you've gone around the course?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, we came out on Friday. We landed Friday night, and fortunate enough I didn't even know he was allowed to be out with me on Saturday and Sunday, so that was actually really a special treat. So he was with me during both those practice rounds.

Q. First‑time players, whether it's a rookie or like yourself or we in the media, when we come and play the first time, always seem to drop a ball behind 16 where Tiger chipped it or hit a shot like Phil out of the straw on 13. What iconic shots have you tried in your practice rounds here, and how did you fare?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Both of those you just mentioned. I did try. I was asking. I asked pretty much‑‑ my poor caddie, Sean, I asked him just about every shot I've seen on TV, famous or not. I asked him‑‑ hopefully not‑‑ this doesn't get repeated‑‑ I asked him on 10 where Rory's ball went. Just because I have no idea. On 16 I asked him where Tiger chipped in, and he‑‑ Sean was awesome. He just put my ball right in that spot, and I had a go at it.

Q. How did you fare? Did you get close at all?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: It's tricky. It was raining, and the greens were much softer than they were. So it was hard to ‑‑ easy to imagine and hard to pull off the same shot just because nothing was rolling the same as it was during tournament conditions.

Q. Could a right‑hander hit the shot that Bubba did on 10 out of the trees‑‑
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: No, but...

Q. ‑‑ with a wedge?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: I don't think so. Sean did point to the spot. And he said a bunch of lefties have flown in to try to hit this shot, and no one's pulled it off.

Q. What's the closest you've come to firing your dad?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Hawaii. He was my caddie, and I fired him there. He wears a lot of hats‑‑ he's my dad, mental coach, swing coach, manager, support. So, I mean, I think he had a few jobs prior, but I fired him from those. So he still has four or five jobs.

Q. Kind of a quasi‑serious note, I would be curious if that ever‑‑ I mean, it is your dad first and foremost, and then with all the golfing stuff and as aggravating as this game can be, has there ever been any tough moments, or do you guys have a pretty blunt relationship?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, I mean, we're out here at the Masters, I don't think anything's too difficult right now. Everyone's all smiles. And you look around on the range, everyone seems to be relaxed and laughing and having fun. So that's what we're doing.
But, yes, of course there's terrible moments where we wanted to rip each other's head off. But our rule is on green grass I'm the boss and back at home he's my dad again and I got to listen to him.

Q. Curious, last year, I guess it was last year, you traveled quite a bit and you played over in Asia, several tournaments. Obviously with your mom and your dad, with their nationalities and where they grew up and whatnot, how comfortable are you playing internationally? Is that something that you feel you're going to be doing quite a bit of going forward?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, I've never been able to travel when I was younger, and my dad told me as a reward I can use golf as an engine to explore the world and play in different countries and dabble in different cultures. So I feel very comfortable going abroad. I was in Korea, Malaysia, China.
I didn't feel at home, I don't think anyone feels at home when they're not in their own bed, but I understand a lot of things in Asian cultures, not so much European, but just because of my mom and my upbringing. So I felt very comfortable, and with food and any golf course is a golf course, it doesn't really matter. But most guys struggle with food and language and stuff like that, and I seem to be okay.

Q. Where did your dad accumulate his golf knowledge? Because I know he's a decathlete and was not of golf in that sense, but how did he and where did he accumulate all that knowledge that he's used as your coach?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: I mean, I hate to say it, but he's a really smart guy. I know he took lessons from AJ Bonar‑‑ B‑o‑n‑a‑r, I think‑‑ when he was starting into golf. He was 23 when he started playing. Him and AJ got along really well, and I think that's been his only coach and sort of taught him a little bit of how he teaches now.

Q. Scott Stallings is a good friend of mine. I remember him being here as a first‑time player in 2012, and he kept saying you have to know where to miss it. That's what he kept learning from other players. How many times have you heard that from other players, and are there any on‑course examples that you could give to kind of explain what that means specifically?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, I mean, quite a few. I've heard that a lot. It is all about where you can miss it. I think the tricky part is when you're on to be brave enough to sort of attack the course.
But for now, coming in this week, I'll definitely have more of a defensive mindset than I would like, but I think good examples are ‑‑ to me, the way I look at it, I look at Rae's Creek down on 12, and I look at the clubhouse, and any sort of shot going towards the clubhouse is slow, and it goes away from it, towards Rae's Creek it's quick. So you can have uphill putts towards Rae's Creek that are quicker than downhill putts to the clubhouse. That's what Sean told me, and I have sort of started taking a liking to that.
I was playing a game with Charley yesterday and Chappell, and on 13 I hit it in the left trees, and then I hit my next shot into the left trees, and the pin was right, and it seemed like it was okay, but I just didn't have a chance. So any time you're above looking down on your hole, it's never a good thing.

Q. Who is Sean?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Sean is he's a local caddie out here. His grandfather caddies, his baby‑sitter caddies out here, and kind of grew up‑‑ his whole family was looping pretty much.

Q. So you picked him up when you came out in the rain and the cold?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, well, yeah, poor Sean.

Q. Did you tip him well?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Oh, yeah, I took care of him.

Q. And then was he here for you this weekend too?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, we ran into each other in the locker room, which is pretty cool. Or in the caddie dining.

Q. I only read it but I haven't really necessarily understand it, did you play any other sports besides golf and soccer?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: No.

Q. Okay. So soccer, where did golf fit on the‑‑ with soccer? Which was the leading candidate if you will?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: I mean, I had‑‑ I probably had more fun playing soccer until we started losing a bunch of games. That was sort of what it was. I felt like I was doing fine. I was really young. I was about 10 years old, but I just had this nag, I really hated to lose, and I felt like I was playing really good games as a sweeper, hanging back. And we kept losing, and golf was sort of all on you. If you suck, you suck. If you do it well, you gets all the credit, so that's sort of what made me attracted to golf.

Q. And then lastly, watching golf on television, before you were on TOUR, which was just a couple years ago, did you watch all the Majors or did you watch one more than the others or did you watch golf on TV at all?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: I mean, I always caught‑‑ no matter where I was, I always tried to catch the back nine of the Masters. I feel like the Masters is probably the Major I watched the most. The Open Championship as well and then the U.S. Open. I mean, I kind of knew of those three growing up. The PGA, I wasn't‑‑ I never really understood that that was a Major when I was really young. I saw it, but there's also PGA section majors or championships, so I always got confused in what I was looking at, so I always kind of stuck to those three just knowing that.

Q. Earliest memory of this one?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Oh, boy. It would have to be something‑‑ I don't remember what year, Tiger Woods, but I remember just watching it, my dad would always watch the back nine when they didn't televise the front nine, they only televised the back nine. I can remember him watching. I can't remember what year it was, though.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Xander. All the best this week.
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Thank you.
.
THE MODERATOR: We would like to welcome west Lee Byron Nelson to the interview room.

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