PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

May 21, 2022

Xander Schauffele

Southern Hills Country Club

Flash Quotes

Q. Take us through your round.

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, I played pretty solid. I feel like I didn't have too many stressful par putts, even compared to yesterday when it was playing easier I had way more stressful par putts. Today my main goal was to hit as many greens as possible, and the only shot I really want back is No. 9. I pitched it, I was 70 yards out and missed the green. So that one pissed me off a lot and wasn't able to convert a birdie after that.

Overall very happy with an under-par round.

Q. Looks like the forecast is windy, cold, humid. How physically draining and mentally draining is it?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: It was nice the drizzle stopped the first hole. It was something else, into, right-to-left and drizzling. The people out on the course were dealing with it. I was happy that stopped. Cold and windy is better than cold, windy and wet.

Q. What were the keys to the round?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: I drove the ball really well. I was more aggressive on some of the downwind hole, 4 and 9, been hitting iron for the most part on those early in the round. Felt like I had a lot of birdie looks and a lot of hard holes where I hit it onto the green to 50 or 60 feet and grinding a 2-putt.

Hard to putt on those greens when it's windy. They are a little bit slower than you anticipate, but at the same time they put these pins on these slopes where if you hit your putt too hard, you hit off back of the green. You're leaving yourself five or six feet short a lot, and you have to make those for par.

Q. You drove it so well those last 2 1/2, 3 rounds last week. Has that continued into this, and what does that mean going forward for, say, the U.S. Open?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, it's what needs to be done. I think driving the ball in major championships is so crucial because there's always so many elements that the committee always try to throw our way, whether it's long rough or really firm greens, and in order to be productive, you have to be hitting out of the fairway.