PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

May 17, 2022

Xander Schauffele

Southern Hills Country Club

Flash Quotes

JULIUS MASON: Xander Schauffele, ladies and gentlemen, is joining us at the 104th PGA Championship congratulations on your victory in New Orleans.

I've got to think that even though it was a team event, that you have got to be feeling pretty good about coming here to Southern Hills, right?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, it was an interesting feeling. You know, winning a team event, I guess, that's a non-Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup. No complaints obviously. If you're winning, you're playing some good golf. It was a lot of fun.

JULIUS MASON: How familiar are you with Southern Hills Country Club?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: I played the Trans-Mississippi Amateur almost a decade ago I think. So not super familiar but I've played each nine once, and it's pretty obvious what needs to be done around the property.

JULIUS MASON: Do you like the way it looks? Do you like the way it feels?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: It's tough. It's going to be really hard. I think PGA Championships for the most part, people feel like you can kind of shoot lower in them than most majors. But I think this year is going to be a different story.

Q. We were talking with Patrick about celebrations after New Orleans and it's been postponed and you're going back to northern California. What will you do there?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, just explore. Go back to Napa, maybe spend an extra day. I don't know if we could have last year. We were kind of worn out. I think we are going to kind of slow our roll, visit one vineyard a day instead of two or three and kind of enjoy it a little bit more. Doing two or three vineyards in a day can be kind of taxing especially if you are finishing all the tastings.

Q. There's a feeling around here, and I saw you practicing with the other guys, there's a generation thing here but there's also a Ryder Cup here that kind of has stayed, this camaraderie, there's something going on with you guys.

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: There's a feeling of familiarity and we are comfortable around each other. We shared a really special moment. Being on those team events is really awesome and really special. In passing, there's always little nudges and pokes amongst players and caddies. It's all in good fun though.

Q. But the PGA Championship at Southern Hills this week, you've played all kind of majors and different situations, but is there something about the PGA Championship that makes it different? Is there a common denominator, the golf course, the field? What is it?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: It's unique with the 20 PGA pros competing and qualifying for the tournament. That makes it unique compared to the others.

But to me, a major championship is a major championship. We have four a year, and you're trying to show up for all four of them. Like I said, I feel like sometimes historically lower scores have been shot, and I guess at Augusta when it was soft and wet, some low scores were shot there in November.

But Southern Hills is no joke. You know, it's going to take a lot of patience and a lot of good quality shots just to kind of shoot around par.

Q. Talking about the 20 pros, Kyle Mendoza is a pro at one of your clubs, and I think you played with him and you know him well. Can you tell us a little bit?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, Kyle's great. He's obviously a great player. He's qualified for regular PGA Tour events as well. I think he played at Farmers. He's not the longest guy but he made the cut at the Farmers which was awesome. That was really exciting for the Farms Country Club in Rancho Santa Fe for him to do that. Kyle has been great. Played with him in San Diego and got to know him a little bit better and pulling for him this week.

Q. Specifically about your game or technically, you've been working on a few things this year, and trying to make some adjustments, are things coming together?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: I think so. Just kind of getting back to what I do, it's easy to sort of steer the ship the wrong way and -- not the wrong way, I guess. It was more of an understanding thing of me, trying to understand what I do, which was a process.

And then me being kind of, you know, stubborn like I am. I steer my ship in the wrong direction at times. Just trying to get back to sort of what I do, and last week was sort of a testament to that. Just being kind of out of it and then coming back, I enjoy doing that.

Obviously to that extent was really nice. It was kind of a cherry on top to finish with a 61 last week. But whenever you're playing bad and can kind of get back in position and shoot a good score, it's always a really good thing for the player in terms of confidence.

Q. So you have players here at the highest level like you that have a lot of people around them working on their swings and technique and recall that. Looks like you are more able to self-correct?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Normally. I think Augusta was a really good example of me not being able to. Since then, you know, I've been in Las Vegas a lot. I've been practicing more than I play. I've been out at the discovery property at summit and they get like ten to twelve rounds a day. I've just been trying to play as much as possible with Collin out there. Iron sharpens iron, and so it's awesome to play with him, and it's awesome to just play more guest. And I think that's when I play my best is when I play more golf instead of worrying about golf swing.

Q. You alluded to it earlier, but how important -- important might not be the right word but how big was last Friday afternoon?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Big for me. The Zurich tournament with Patrick was really nice, sort of half the stress. I was playing well at the time, and getting that win was important but if you look before Zurich, how my year was going, very kind of stale, for me, in my feelings and how my team sort of view how I'm supposed to play.

So it was nice to kind of put that aside, and Friday, I had that stale feeling for a little bit through about four or five holes and then kind of woke up and made a lot of birdies.

Q. What were you thinking after the third hole on Friday? You were 3-over par?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Some terrible things. Not going to lie. It's so weird when you're playing so poorly, or scoring so poorly, I should say, felt like I was playing okay. Scoring really poorly, kind of frees you up. I had nothing to lose.

So I pretty much had that nothing to lose mindset for quite some time throughout that tournament. And yeah, I was just chasing.

Q. Last one. You were 27-under par your last 51 holes. Have you ever had a stretch like that on the PGA Tour?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: You tell me. I don't think so.

Q. Early on in your career, you didn't hide the fact that you thought chipping was a weakness that that you needed to improve. Curious how you've progressed in that area, and with it such a big factor this week, what are the types of things did you to improve there?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: It's funny, I feel like out here, it's sort of whoever hits it best. I mean, for a personal standpoint, chipping is always something we can improve on.

In terms of importance, statistically, I feel like it's not as important as drying, approach the green or putting. So fortunately, you know, it's least important where I feel like I need to improve the most.

Out here, people say they want to chip really well. It's hard. The bunkers are hard. There's lot of rocks in them. Fairways, it's grainy. You're hitting up to greens; it's a lot of run-offs.

So I think Austin told me, my caddie, 46 percent was the average in scrambling last time a big tournament was here. I don't see anyone, you know, getting to 70 or 75 percent for the week, if it's that difficult, maybe a few guys on Tour can. But it's sort of the guy who going to hit the most greens and really keep the hole front of him is the one that's going to do the best.

Q. What is the biggest ask of this golf course?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: There are a lot of asks, honestly. You just have to play smart. They are going to be long rounds, not just because they are hitting over other greens and waiting, stuff like that. It's going to be long just because you have to really think. You have to be smart. You can do the whole chip up, chip down, chip over, chip back off the front of the green type deal out here, especially with winds blowing 20 to 30 miles an hour which is what's forecasted. It's going to be a mental battle and you really have to stay patient. Sometimes hitting it to 50 feet is a good shot.

Q. And you've had some nice runs at majors, the close calls at the Masters, good finishes at the U.S. Open. What tells you internally that you're ready to get this done?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: I feel like I just have kind of been seeing both sides of it. I haven't had the best of years up to this point, for the most part, I'd say, in terms of consistency.

So I think me just getting back to sort of my process and being patient and not really trying to do too much. Just sort of when I do really well in majors and I'm not worried throughout the week. I kind of have that feeling now. I think mentally I'm in a good spot.

JULIUS MASON: Have a great week.