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TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP

September 18, 2018

Xander Schauffele

Atlanta, Georgia

THE MODERATOR: We'd like to welcome Xander Schauffele, defending his TOUR Championship title this week. Obviously last season was such an amazing season for you, a whirlwind season. Can you just comment on what last year's win here did for you and just the impact it's had on you.

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, it's what I would consider life-changing for me, especially in this line of work. To be back here is awesome and it's really exciting. It means we had a pretty good year.

Q. You're entering this week No. 18 in the standings, so what are your overall thoughts, attitudes heading into the week?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, it's a little better than last year, so take that as a positive. But the field is stacked, and the guys up top are stacked, and it's going to be a lot of work. I'm looking forward to it.

Q. Did you have any words of advice for the lone rookie in the field this week, Aaron Wise?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: No, I saw Aaron yesterday, but just gave him a pat on the butt. It's cool, and I played with Aaron a bunch this year, and he's a great guy, and I'm sure he's going to play well.

Q. If you had to pick out one shot last year here this week for the whole week that you've thought the most about, what would it be?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Probably the putt. That's the putt that I almost missed to win. It just comes to mind because everyone likes to show me over and over again how I almost missed it. If I think of this tournament, unfortunately I think of that.

Q. Describe how you feel, the difference between last year and coming into this year, how you're feeling at this point in time?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, you know, I was a rookie last year. Feels like I had somewhat of another year this year, playing in a lot of new events, but I feel a lot more comfortable than I did last year. Obviously I didn't really know what was going on. I know a little bit more this year. So yeah, just a little bit more comfortable. But just very anxious and excited to get the tournament going.

Q. Is your game any different this week as opposed to last year or any parts of your game that got better or worse than a year ago? How have you evolved in a year?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, if you look at my stats, I'd say they're overall a little worse in every category, unfortunately. Yeah, stats are weird. Don't dive too deep into them. But last year I played well at the BMW to get in here. I was outside looking in. This year I was outside looking in, played well at the BMW again. I'd say we're in decent form and moving in the right direction.

Q. Under the new FedExCup format, last year you would have started 10 shots back Thursday morning. Would you approach the tournament any differently starting on Thursday at a 10-shot deficit?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: You know, if you look at the stats -- and the TOUR analyst showed me the results from having the new format versus the current one -- it was almost the same every time, or it was the same except for two potential ties. You know, I think mentally it might seem a little different, but at the end of the day, that change is just for the public to understand our format better and understand the equations versus like looking at 15 different potential scenarios. It's easier just to look at a couple numbers. It's hard to answer just because I don't feel like -- we're on points still instead of strokes.

Q. You say you're getting a grasp on the new system, but would it feel weird to beat a guy by six shots maybe, starting way back, but not hold the trophy at the end of the week?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: You know, once again, this TOUR put this equation together, and when you plug everything in, everything seems to be correct. I haven't been in that situation. I don't know what it's like to do that. But you can beat someone by six this week, and I guess it should be very similar to the new format.

You know, it's funny to think of. Obviously it's going to be kind of weird, but I guess we'll just have to see.

Q. You seem pretty gassed by the end of last year, a lot going on late, a lot of playing late in the year. I wonder if you could talk about as you go forward the need to do something in the fall to not fall too far behind, but not to wear yourself out at the same time.
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: I didn't feel too gassed, but yeah, I think the fall is -- I'm going to do the same thing. I'm going to play all three Asian events this year, and I think just a solid off-season. I'm looking forward to putting in a little bit more work off the course than I have ever. I think the game is going that direction, and I sort of need to adapt faster to it. We'll see how that goes, and hopefully that'll keep me fresher coming into the new year.

Q. Did you work very hard in the off-season?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Last year?

Q. Yeah.
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Not hard enough. You know, I still played. I played a lot, but I feel like -- I like to play golf, so when I'm home, I don't mind playing with friends. Even though I've played four or five weeks in a row, that doesn't really bother me. But off the course, in the gym and stuff like that, it was -- I'd say I probably did the least amount that my team would want me to do. So this year we're going to ramp it up and see how we do.

Q. I can't think of another tournament that if you were to win it you would be back the next year as defending champion. Here it's a different deal. You've got to work your way back. How meaningful was it for you to get back here and get it done late?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, a lot. You know, like I said earlier, I haven't won this year. Obviously I still have a few opportunities, but you sort of base your years off of wins, or for me I feel like getting to the TOUR Championship is a big deal. If you end up here, no matter how you got here, a bunch of top 10s or consistent play or a few high finishes with no wins, it's still a successful year. Like you said, to be able to come back and defend is an honor, and it means we've made some changes but nothing too drastic to really affect my game.

Q. I think you kind of touched on it at BMW, but feeling more pressure this year? How did things feel different this year?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, I feel like that's just expectations I put on myself. When you haven't done anything -- everyone expects a lot of themselves just in anything they do, but once you actually start accomplishing stuff you put out to do, it sort of changes how you think and how you operate. And I don't think I was really ready for that this year all the time. I handled some of the stuff okay, but yeah, it'll be important next year to sort of keep my head down better or be a little bit more patient than sort of this year expecting the world after a dream finish.

Q. The off-the-course stuff you talked about working on in the off-season, is it fitness, swing stuff?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Mainly fitness, a lot of swing stuff that I'd like to change. It can only happen in the gym probably. Not that I'm unhappy with my swing, just injury prevention, fatigue, stuff like that that can be taken care of in the gym. Just like DJ and Brooks are very consistently in the gym week to week, and it goes to show in their games. Week to week they're there mentally and they're focused, so I think I can take a little bit of that.

Q. You've had a few days to kind of digest the whole Ryder Cup thing and who's going and not going. You've got a chance to make a statement this week. Talk about how you feel, what you feel about the whole thing and the kind of statement you can make this week on that.
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah. It is what it is. Jim called me after he made his decision, before he announced it to the public, and I was pretty aware personally. I felt like if I didn't win -- even with me winning, Tony has been playing great. Obviously I felt like if I won and Tony finished in the top 5 again, I wouldn't take me, either. But I told Jim I was trying to make it as hard as possible on him to make the decision, which he said I did a decent job at, so I can hold my head up high on that.

At the end of the day, I just failed. I didn't play well enough to get on the team. I didn't play well enough to get in the top eight and I didn't play well enough to be a pick. It's pretty black and white to me, and I'll keep everything else aside.

Q. I'm just curious on a couple of things. The British being your first time really in contention at a Major, you can always look back at the shot on 17, but the day as a whole, were you proud of the way you played? Or do you look at that as a negative?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: No, it's -- again, I have to say it is what it is. It was a first time for me. It was the first time in that situation. If I was sort of a spectator looking at me playing, I'd chuckle and be like, you know, look at this idiot, he's doing everything that you shouldn't be doing. It's hard to make the right decision at that moment, and definitely a big learning experience. Everything seemed to be going too fast, and I wasn't making the right decisions, thought process, routine, all these things were sloppy. I panicked at an important moment. It's a big moment, and I guess I wasn't really ready for it, but glad I was in that moment so I can learn from it now.

Q. Do you think there were any spectators out there that were watching thinking, man, this guy is not backing down? Are you being too hard on yourself?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: I'm being pretty -- a harsh critic on myself, but I definitely didn't back down. I came back and gave myself a chance, which is where I will rest my case on it. That's what I told myself, I'm not going to quit, I'm not going to give up. Like this is the British Open, it's windy, it's sort of a crapshoot, so everyone was grinding there. And I was right there at the end, and Francesco won the tournament. Obviously everyone can say I blew it early, and Jordan -- we were just feeding off each other in the worst ways possible. We can laugh at it now, but it's definitely something to learn from.

Q. Are you one who actually writes down goals at the start of the year?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, small goals. They're on my phone. On the way to Boston, I sort of looked at my phone, sort of revisited some of the goals and made a few mini goals just for the Playoffs. So yeah, I'd say I'm rather goal-oriented, and just need to stick to it. That's all.

Q. What do you intend to check off in a year, in a good year?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: I don't know. I don't know the percentage. There's still a lot left, though, I can tell you that.

Q. There's only one tournament left.
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: True.

Q. A quick question about East Lake. The 14th hole played as one of the toughest holes on the PGA TOUR last year. Can you talk about how you played it, how you plan to play it, just your preparation going into it?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: That's the downhill dogleg, right?

Q. Yeah.
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, it's a beast. My caddie actually - today, we were walking down it, he said he felt like that hole is the reason why we won the tournament. Funny enough, we just played the back nine today, and he said we played it 1-under last year, which I don't even know if it's true. Don't quote me. But I remember I had some ridiculous up-and-downs and I chipped in for birdie. It's a really tough hole, and I just remember everything I did on that hole to get the ball in the hole was so just unconventional to me. I was scrambling, hitting out of trees, hitting 55-yard bunker shots, making 20-footers for par. It's just a great hole, and I think everyone out here has a lot of respect for it.

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