PIF SAUDI INTERNATIONAL POWERED BY SOFTBANK INVESTMENT ADVISERS

February 1, 2022

Xander Schauffele

Royal Greens Golf and Country Club

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for joining us this afternoon. We managed to track Xander down and get him here for the start of our press conferences today.

It's great to have you here. Welcome to Saudi. How pleased are you to be here?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, it was a long journey. Got in about 2:30 a.m. today, so I'm here, I'm awake, and I just played nine holes. Happy to be here.

Q. As a professional golfer, how much do you enjoy the fact that what comes with that is the ability to travel the world and the ability to come to places like Saudi Arabia?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, my upbringing was very international, so my dad always promised -- he couldn't really afford to send me around as a kid in my youth to travel and explore the world, and he always told me that golf would be my way to travel and explore the world, so here I am doing it.

Q. It's something you love to do?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: I wouldn't be here if I didn't love it.

Q. You've just been out on the course this afternoon. What's your first thoughts on Royal Greens, and how is your swing feeling?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, it was pretty hard. It was windy. I didn't really find a whole lot of easy birdie holes out there when I played it. One of the par-5s was playing kind of downwind.

Now just trying to get my feet under me, as they say, from the long travel, and just enjoyed the front nine. It was very windy so I could see the scores being a bit higher if the wind stays up.

Q. It's a pretty stacked field here at the Saudi International. What would a good finish here in Saudi this early in the year give you going forward in 2022?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: You know, I always love the challenge of playing well abroad away from the U.S., I guess. It shows that mentally you're capable and that your game is also capable of travelling. I always try to put an emphasis on playing around the world, and it's always a big bonus to play well.

Q. Talk about the quality of the field. If you did well that would set you up nicely?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, exactly. I'm kind of waiting to catch my stride here. It's been a bit of a slow start since the Olympics. Haven't really done a whole lot I'd say for my team and myself. I'm looking forward to getting the ball rolling here.

Q. Given your heritage, the Asian part of it, the German part of it, living in America and also given the fact that you are the Olympic champion which comes with a lot of responsibility whether you sign up for it or not, are you surprised that there's been so much negativity with the Asian Tour lately, things like getting release for the tournament and things like that? You are in a very specific situation apart from the other players. You are in this situation because of the Heritage and all. Can you talk about that?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, I consider myself a global player. I'm the son of two immigrants. Very confused upbringing, half French, half German father; Taiwanese, grew-up-in-Japan mother, and I was born in the U.S., and my brother was born in Germany. Very, very international background. I always consider myself a global player and my dad and I always talked about how he wanted me to play around the world. These are opportunities for me to do that, so I'm sticking to my guns.

I'm not really a surprise I would say that there's been negative talk around coming here to the Asian Tour. There's so many things going on, a lot of distractions this week with sort of all the talks with the two tours and whatnot. I'm just trying to keep my head down and handle business as I always do.

Q. Just three quick questions: Where did you fly in from?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Dubai. LA to Dubai, Dubai to Jeddah, Jeddah to the hotel.

Q. Do you have the little medal with you?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: I do not. Can't get it off my parents.

Q. Has there been any recent special moments where you bring it out and show it to someone just to see their reaction? Any sort of special moments of late, maybe over the Christmas break, too?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, not really. In all honesty, I think the shock value it provides is always a premium. Everyone is always really honoured, and not everyone gets to hold a gold medal. Even when I've had it around, people kind of look at me strange, can-I-hold-it type deal. That part has been cool, but for the most part everyone has been really respectful and I haven't really sort of been riding around town with it. It's been tucked away, and I don't really get to see it a whole lot, to be honest.

Q. You mentioned things have been a bit quieter for you. Is there a particular reason for -- slump would be an exaggeration, but a quiet period?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, fishing, just like every golfer. I've just been trying to get better at certain things, and it's sort of led my game to be a little worse in certain areas. As soon as you try and make your weaknesses your strengths, your strengths become weaknesses. It's funny how the game works, and I'm just trying to get back to how I play.

Q. Nothing specific then?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Not really. I've tried to clean up some wedge work, and I've just slowly learned that the best wedge player in the world will never be the best driver for certain reasons. I think it's a bonus that I understand those things now. It's just tricky to try and do it all, I guess.

I've got to realise what I had was good enough before, and if I can kind of sort of slowly get better at it, I tried to do a hard set, I guess, on trying to be a better wedge player, and it sort of leaked into my driving game and my long iron ability. I'm still young and trying to figure it out slowly.

Q. Obviously Golf Saudi and the Saudi Golf Federation have been growing the game and doing a great job in doing that. How important is that for you coming here and participating in such tournaments, growing the game in different markets, and what is your message to the young people who are taking up golf?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, I think it's awesome that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has sort of gone that direction. It's a big stance with the women's tournament coming through and younger generations trying to play golf here, as well. I try to help local kids in my town back home. If I can come out here and inspire some kids to play golf, as well, that's a cherry on top for me.

Q. I'd like to have your opinion on the fact that there are so many really young lads now dominating the World Rankings. Do you feel a bit old even at 28 now?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, I feel old. It's my sixth year on Tour, and I think we're all products of sort of a Tiger Woods era and wave, and all the young guys on the World Rankings, those are what he's done, as well. Kids keep getting better and better, and they're setting the bar pretty high.

Q. In contrast to the question I just asked you a minute ago, you're very close to being or certainly being part of the conversation of being the best player never to win a major. Is that something that you hear more and more or is it something inside your head or is it something that you don't even think about?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: It's something I don't think about. I've heard it before. I'm off of all social media and all those things for a good reason. I try to keep as much -- being a recluse is one thing and not being on social media is part of that. I do enjoy spending time away from golf when I'm not doing it. Yeah, it's definitely a goal of mine to not be the best player to not win a major. Hopefully my name does not stay in that arena.