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TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP

August 22, 2019

Xander Schauffele

Atlanta, Georgia

THE MODERATOR: Xander, just take us through the day. Started the tournament 4 under and you're in great position here going into the next few days. Just kind of sum it up for us.

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: I had a putt for 59 on the last hole. (Laughter) That's what Kuchar told me. I looked at him the same way. Got it.

It was a good day. I told myself I'd keep my head down all of Thursday. The plan is to keep it down tomorrow and most of Saturday. It seemed to work today.

Q. Knowing how the whole thing works, did it feel like a normal tournament to you then?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: You know, I have no idea how this whole thing works. I'm just kidding.

Yeah, I think we just -- you know, we have a number. We have a seeding. It is what it is. I mean, that's how I'm taking it. I don't think there's -- I think everyone needed help from J.T. If J.T. went out and shot a pair of 65s, I don't think the TOUR would be very happy and I don't think the rest of the field would be happy. But it looks to be a good tournament so far.

Q. This is kind of conversation we have on a Saturday. We need help from so and so, isn't it?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah. And now we're having it on a Thursday, so I guess we're just moving it up in advance.

Q. Xander, when are you going to buy a place nearby here, maybe get a membership? What is it about this place that appeals to you so much?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: You know, I've been asked that a lot. I think -- my best guess would be, just the southern hospitality, East Lake, the staff to the tournament, just the style of this tournament being a limited field. It's pretty exclusive. It's very relaxed. For how important and how topnotch this tournament is, it's a very surprisingly relaxed week. You don't see a bunch of guys grinding on the range in 90 degrees.

I just think I'm comfortable, and it sort of feeds into my sort of California vibe surprisingly, just because it's so laid back.

Q. Xander, does it feel like the previous rounds here, like 2018, like the shots, the putts, things that remind you of that?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, for sure. I think -- absolutely. You get nervous. I was so happy to see the tee was up on 16 -- 15, sorry. 15. I had a good round going, and I remember every year I've played here, you sort of get to that hole and you're like please be down off the right or please be downwind, not into. I have a lot of the same feels, and hopefully I can get on a lot of the similar lines I have.

It's just whenever us players have good feelings at a certain course, we sort of thrive off of that.

Q. Xander, when you won here in 2017, obviously you didn't win the FedExCup. How comforting is it to know, if you maintain the lead the next three days, you'll be holding that trophy on Sunday?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Comforting would be an interesting word. I think it would be very nerve-racking. You have -- it's not too often in your life you have four- or five-footers for $10 million. I've never done it. I don't play any high stakes games out here. I don't think anyone else does. A few guys have.

Yeah, I think -- like I said, it's Thursday. Like someone pointed out, we are having these awkward conversations on a Thursday instead of a Saturday. I'm just going to stick to my plan of keeping my head down and trying to avoid those leaderboards right now.

Q. I guess I meant you don't have to worry about scenarios or this guy finishing this way or this guy --
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: In that sense, yeah. I think it's more so for viewership. Us players, we keep our heads down, and we handle our own business. We're not really -- when you're on the course, you're not like, man, if someone misses this putt, I'm going to take him by two points or something like that. We just try to play the best golf we can. Wherever the cards lay at the end of the day, that's the way it is.

Q. Xander, Justin said yesterday that he was bummed two years ago to have -- even though he won the Cup, not to have won the tournament. Do you find it at all ironic that you're once again the thorn in his side, having whittled away at his lead today?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: It's just Thursday. I'd love to be a thorn in someone's side on Sunday, you can say that much.

Q. Did you have a number in mind today? And did you have a certain game plan, you said, I've got to shoot a certain score to be competitive where you were?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: I didn't really have a number. I play my best when I can forget about my score, which means I don't look at leaderboards. I kind of lose track in the process of what I try and do. I think that's how I kind of get in the zone. My caddie keeps my score when I'm out there. I try to do everything I can to just focus on hitting that golf ball.

Besides that, yeah, just try and stay as relaxed as possible.

Q. Was it inevitable you would see a leaderboard at some point?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: They're so big, and they're right next to the green. My eyes always want to sort of venture off to them. If I'm reading a putt and the board's right behind my ball, of course I saw my name, but I quickly -- instead of looking at who else -- oh, I'm one ahead of this guy, I'm two behind this guy -- I just saw my name briefly. And like I said earlier, once the camera started following, I figured I had a good round going.

Q. When's the first time you saw your name on the leaderboard? (No microphone)?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: I saw it somewhere on the front nine. When Kuchar holed out, I accidentally looked at the board.

Q. Did the staggered start make it easier for you to not worry about your score and just play?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: I mean, in a sense, yeah, I'd say so. Coming in six shots back, I have a lot less pressure than J.T. does. J.T. has a two-shot lead. Everyone's assuming he should just start running away with it. It's a hard golf course. You can play great golf and shoot even par, 1 under, and vice versa. It's a great tournament-type course, and I think everyone loves this property.

Q. What was your most memorable shot today? And maybe explain why.
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Probably the bunker shot on 16. It was in a bad lie, and I didn't think I would get on the green. So I pulled it too, not going to lie. I was trying to hit like a little draw, and I pulled it, and it landed within a foot of the hole. So that could have easily been a bogey because you chunk it out, the pin's front left. You might end up in the rough. You know it's an automatic bogey. So for me to, at that point, kind of pull off a crazy shot there was really good for Austin and I.

Q. What did you hit there?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: A 7 iron. It was 175. I just tried to smooth one out versus normally I like to hit it hard and bloody right in the lip. So getting wiser as the days go on.

Q. Did you have a good kind of feeling about your swing going into this? Did you get a sense of something good was coming here?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, everything was -- I prepared properly. Got good practice in. Didn't hit it exceptionally well on the range this morning, but I told everyone on my team I'd figure it out on the course, and I guess I figured it out on the course.

You heard J.T. last week say that he had the worst range warmup of his career, and he shot 60 or whatever it was. We're just -- we can be kind of moody at times, and we'll turn it around.

Q. As a former Rookie of the Year, what do you think of the way Sungjae Im has played this season in his 35 starts?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: He's played a lot of golf. He's definitely committed to a very packed schedule. He's played great. Every week -- his last name's only two letters, so I always see it on the leaderboard, and it's always up top.

He didn't win or hasn't won yet, and there's always the talks with Morikowa and Wolff and them winning and he hasn't. But if you look at the consistency -- you heard it from so many players. If you make it to East Lake, you've had a good year. Obviously, those two other boys didn't have enough starts to make it here, and if they did, it would be ridiculous. In my mind, it would be hard to vote for anyone else just because he's here and they're not.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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