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THE 148TH OPEN

July 19, 2019

Xander Schauffele

Portrush, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom

Q. 6-under today, that's great golfing especially in those tough conditions.
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah.

Q. Can you talk us through it.
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, it was a bit harder earlier. I think we were all expecting a little bit more rain. And fortunately the day and the wind -- the rain and the wind sort of subsided and good shots were rewarded.

It was a bit of fun this afternoon.

Q. The eagle on 12, can you talk us through that one.
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, it was behind a 2-iron and driver off the tee. Henrik hit his 3-wood about 320. I figured it just didn't really matter, as long as I had the right line. We hit driver and had 162 pin, something like that. So I figured we might as well take advantage of it.

Q. Talk about the way you see yourself in position right now, you're on the leaderboard. You're in the hunt, I would think, midway through. It's still two more rounds to go.
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, definitely going to sleep a little easier tonight than last night. I'm happy with the big move and hopefully -- I mean, it's just the weather, you know. I highly doubt it will stay like it was today. So I'm assuming it's going to be a little more wind and rain on the weekend. It will be more of a true Open Championship feeling.

Q. Can you tell us what the difference was today, yesterday. Which one do you prefer?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, it's just -- had some equipment issues earlier with the R&A and whatnot. So every day gets easier for me, to say the least.

Q. What were those equipment issues?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: They just tested my driver. Yeah, and it didn't pass.

Q. Which one? Which of the drivers, the Callaway?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, it's my Callaway driver. It barely missed. So I had a bit of a run-in with the R&A, which wasn't the most fun. So happy that it worked a little better today.

Q. Tell me, you're a major specialist, even though you're very young in your career at this stage. You know what you're doing when you shoot 65 around here when you have to. Is that because of the fact that you're now a real majors player, you feel, yourself?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: I consider myself still a rookie in most parts. I haven't played -- this is only my third Open. I just -- it's fun. Links golf kind of fits my game when I'm playing halfway decent. And I just have a lot of fun playing this style of golf. A little bit more freedom with flights and ball patterns and whatnot. I just have a lot of fun playing majors, I think.

Q. Is it the case that Brooks Koepka gets the best of himself in majors, are you in that vein, as well, that it sharpens your attention?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: I think so. I definitely have a bit of a different mentality when I show up on major properties. Just a little bit more awareness and a little more attention to detail. I don't know what you want to call it but it seems to be working.

Q. Did you play with a different driver yesterday than you did today?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, I was doing driver testing up until Wednesday. And then yesterday it wasn't really matching my bag, which was a bummer. I was getting a little upset on the golf course. And today I was testing a little bit on the range again with two different heads. But moved a few weights around and sort of found a good setting, I guess.

Q. What day did they test the driver?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: They test everyone, as a rule. I had a little bit of run-in with them, because they only test 30 players. I thought it was a little bit unfair -- I would gladly give up my driver if it's not conforming. But there's still 130 other players in the field that potentially have a nonconforming driver, as well. Had a word with them and hopefully they take my comments seriously and my concern just because it wasn't my plan to show up Monday morning of a major or Tuesday -- sorry, it was Tuesday evening where I was doing driver testing here. It's not really what players want to be doing.

Q. What would you like to see instead?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Just test the whole -- it's kind of a rhetorical question. What's the fair thing to do? Just test the whole field. It's plain and simple. When I talked to them they didn't really know how to -- you can't really answer that question. You test everyone, it's simple as that.

Q. You're very calm and cool with us. Were you calm and cool when you were having this discussion or did you get a little more agitated or is this just you?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: I got the most agitated when I talked to my dad. But I was -- it wasn't the most fun room to be in. But it is what it is, you know. I have a legal driver now and I sort of put that one to rest and happy to see that ball performing like it did today or the driver performing like it did today, so that was very comforting. Like I said it will get better every day. We've still got two more.

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