	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

THE 147TH OPEN

July 21, 2018

Xander Schauffele

Angus, Scotland, United Kingdom

STUART MOFFATT: I'm delighted to welcome Xander Schauffele to the interview room. Xander is currently tied for the lead at 9 under par.

Xander, a fantastic 67 there, nice birdie on the last. How are you feeling after today's performance?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Good. If someone told me I'd be tied for the lead or close to it after Saturday, I think I would take it.

Q. Xander, six days of calm weather and expected high wind tomorrow, are you relishing that prospect? What's the sort of experience of playing in those sort of conditions?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Every day it's been -- the first two rounds were based on sort of the wave you're in, and today was a bit of lower scores in the morning and then a little bit more wind in the afternoon. So I know I think everyone's looking forward to playing some real Open conditions.

Q. Do you have a plan of action ahead of that?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: I'll let you know when I'm on the 1st tee. I don't really know which way the wind's going to be blowing or how strong. So I think all the players will just have to adjust on the fly.

Q. Xander, you tied for 20th in this event last year and you're tied for the lead going into the final round tomorrow. You've adapted to links golf pretty quickly, obviously. What's been the secret?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Try to have some fun, stay out of the pot bunkers, and make some putts. I think I just enjoy playing links golf overseas just because versus parkland golf, you have a lot of options off the tee, and you can play shots off the greens in so many different ways.

Q. Obviously, Jordan the defending champion out with you tomorrow. Will you relish that or be intimidated by that?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: He's such a nice guy. If anything, we can hopefully get something going, and we can start feeding off each other. Like you said, he won last year, and he's playing great golf right now. So I think he'd be a lot of fun.

Q. You said you'd take it after 54 holes, being tied for the lead. Are you surprised at all, given this early in your career, to be in this position?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: You know, I think last year winning in the fashion I did was more surprising. The wins are somewhat random. Obviously, my team and I wouldn't like to think that way, but I think the next step in my career is to get in contention more often and give myself more looks. Last year I wasn't in contention often, and when I was, I won.

But like last week or a couple weeks back at the Greenbrier when I was defending, I was in contention there, and I played horrible on Sunday. Hopefully, I'm a quick learner.

Q. At Scripps Ranch or at Long Beach with it so early in the morning, how much of this did you watch or know about growing up?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: The Open Championship? A lot, actually. If you look at my last name, it's not very American. My dad's half French, half German. So The Open Championship was always on in my house.

Q. You're both class of 2011, but I don't think you played a lot of the same tournaments growing up. When did you and Jordan first meet again?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: In the locker room last year maybe. He went to Texas for a year. I did all four years in college. He was out on TOUR while I was still in college, I think. I was doing a lot of -- I watched him on TV a lot more than anyone else in my class. So it's cool to be out here.

Q. Xander, how would you describe kind of the first half of the year? And how satisfying is it to get to this point and going in with a really good shot tomorrow?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, it's tricky. The finish I had last year, obviously, it boosted my expectations, just like it would to anyone else. Maybe I put a lot more pressure on myself, which is also fine. And I feel like I've done okay maybe, nothing too crazy. So just like everyone else says, the more you can put yourself into contention to win, that means you're playing good golf. Sooner or later, you're more likely to get it done.

Q. It's been spotty recently, maybe at least results-wise, but your best finishes have been big events -- the PLAYERS, the U.S. Open, playing well here. Is there something that's been different in larger events than just your regular events?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: I don't know. It might just be coincidence, but hopefully it isn't. We can manage to keep doing it. But I have no idea. I just have more fun at big events maybe.

Q. Kind of related, your major record, when you look at it, is pretty smashing. Is that how you saw things for yourself when you were, say, 18 or 19, or is it beyond what you saw?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: I mean, everyone always growing up, I always hit it well and played well in tough conditions. I'd say more so. I wasn't the guy to shoot 61. I was the guy to shoot like 70 when it was playing really hard. So maybe there's something to that. But I don't think much of it to be honest.

Q. Just curious on, I guess it was 14, your shot there. Were you not coming out of the rough there?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: The par 5?

Q. Yeah.
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, it was like a couple feet over the bunker in fescue, and it was like a 9 iron from 213. The cover on the left bunker was like 170. So we figured -- I saw guys in coverage this morning hitting it in the bunkers, and all the balls are coming downhill or downwind. So they get up in the lips, and you have to splash it out 30 feet short. So my caddie and I were thinking we'd rather putt from No. 4 fringe, the other putting green, up to the pin versus hitting another bunker shot. So I was fortunate I ended up 30 feet.

Q. And can you describe today what it was like in the fairways rolling out compared with Thursday? And do you think Sunday will get back to what it was on Thursday?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: I don't think so, just because of the rain we had yesterday. I don't know how dry or hot it's supposed to be tomorrow, but it was pretty firm. I think I hit a 70-yard putt to six feet on 9 during one of the practise rounds, which was pretty funny.

But, yeah, if it's blowing 15, 20 tomorrow, the fairways are going to seem firmer than they actually are.

Q. Xander, I heard that you were a better soccer player for a golf player for a while. Can you comment on that? And who were you rooting for at the World Cup?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: You got to ask that, huh. Yeah, you know, I played soccer until I was like 10 or 11, maybe 12. I had fun with it, but it was a team sport, and I hated losing, and we kept losing, so I quit. That's an easy answer.

The World Cup, you know, I was rooting for Germany until they kicked out, then the U.S. obviously didn't qualify, which is the big part of me. And then Germany is a quarter, and they got kicked. Conveniently, I jumped with France, since that's the other quarter of me.

Q. Who would you root for at the Ryder Cup?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Come on. You know, hopefully, I'm on the team playing. So I'm not going to answer that question.

Q. I have a strong hunch that you don't care about this, but of all the people they talk about coming out of the high school class of '11, you seem to get the least amount of attention, even with a couple of wins. Do you feel like you've been recognised enough for what you've done?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: You know, I don't -- all the guys I've talked to said, live it up while you can, fly under the radar. The veterans. Like just today, I played in front of what you call Rory's crowd, I guess, and guys were just yelling all the time, even while he's trying to putt, and he had to step off a few times. No one was yelling at me while I was putting.

So I kind of enjoy just hanging back and relaxing, sort of the San Diego, So Cal vibe, whatever you want to call it. It's cool with me. It doesn't bother me at all.

Q. How much longer does that last, do you think?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: You know, I guess this game of golf is just how well you play really. Hopefully, it lasts forever, but if I keep playing well, then who knows?

Q. And lastly, have you heard anyone try and pronounce your last name, and do they do a better job here than they do at home?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Scottish accent, maybe, I don't know. I kind of blanked out on the 1st tee. I don't even remember anyone calling my name. I'm just trying to hit this tee shot. Typically, Europeans have an easier time handling it versus Americans.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297