WGC DELL TECHNOLOGIES MATCH PLAY

March 25, 2021

Xander Schauffele

Austin Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. How would you assess your match today?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: I don't want to speak on Jason's behalf, but I'd say it was a bit of a pillow fight early. If you look at the scores, we were trading off with some 4s and 5s and 5s and 6s. We cleaned it up a little bit at the end, which was nice I think for both of us, but yeah, it's match play. I came out on top, and that's kind of all that matters.

Q. How much did the course play a little different today with the rain last night and the wind direction?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: It's funny, when you talk about course conditions in match play it really doesn't matter. I was talking to my caddie about it; with wind and conditions and everything, it's just the guy you're playing across from you. It was definitely playing softer with the hailstorm or whatever that was last night, and it definitely was strange in terms of how aggressive you could be from certain distances.

Q. What was working so well for you in your win today? What was the key?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: I just stayed patient. We weren't really feeding off each other at all. There was kind of a focal point there, I hooked a 7-wood in the water there when he was kind of plugged up against the lip and he ended up winning the hole. I had an opportunity I felt to go 3-up there into the drivable one, and it's Jason Day, so he gets up-and-down and makes 2 on the next. All of a sudden it's all square.

It was a close match for a long time, and I just feel fortunate to come out on top.

Q. Can patience sometimes be a key in match play, not to maybe press if you get down on up or whatever else?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: You just never know. If you're in full control of your ball and you're feeling dangerous, I think it's great. You can be as aggressive as you want and you can attack whatever you want. But sometimes you're playing defense and sometimes you're playing offense. If your opponent is kind of making mistakes you can hang back and try to play aggressive to safe places, but in certain situations like today, maybe I was a little too aggressive when I shouldn't have been and it kind of cost me midway, and fortunately, like I said, I was able to come out at the end.

Q. What was your mentality heading into your third match tomorrow?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: I've just got to play cleaner. Sort of make my opponent earn his win on each hole, I think, or tie or whatever you want to call it. There was a lot of back and forth today in terms of sloppiness and I feel like I just need to play a little bit cleaner tomorrow against Scottie.