THE 150TH OPEN

July 17, 2022

Xander Schauffele

Mixed Zone

Q. I'm not as much concerned about your day as I am about your week. How was it considering you came in here about as hot as you could be?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: It's a bit of a bummer to sort of finish the week off without being in any sort of contention. It's tricky. The way the course is set up, unless you're playing really, really solid, like Rory is, for example, not doing anything too flashy. If you're driving it really well which he's doing and lagging it, those two factors are probably going to be in there for the top guys. You know what I mean?

I lost some speed there. I lost some pace on the field yesterday for sure and the day before. Just wasn't able to keep up. There's no wind.

I think I was on the better side of the draw too. I don't know if there was a big draw difference, but I felt like all the guys that were on my side were up on the top of the leaderboard. It was unfortunate I didn't take much advantage of that.

Q. I know you hadn't been here before, at least not to play. So now you've seen it. I'm sure you heard all this stuff about how it's probably going to get rolled over because it's too easy and modern professional and the modern equipment. What is your assessment of St Andrews now?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: I think we definitely are hitting it too far for the course probably, if I had to guess. Maybe it's just too firm. I'm not too sure, to be completely honest. The way they made it difficult was a little tricky in my mind. Some of those pins they tucked -- I mean, if you're on the correct side, you're going to have 30 feet, 40 feet. But if you try to hit it close and you get a little greedy like I did yesterday, there's no grass on top of some of those slopes.

Today it was a lot softer. The ball was kind of staying on the ground. Yesterday there was no friction. Almost felt like a USGA event back in '15 or '16. I guess I only played it in '17.

I don't know. I think -- I haven't really sat back and really thought about it yet. I've just been trying to shoot as low as possible each day because that's what everyone else is doing.

Q. I just saw you talk to the German colleagues of mine. How much is Germany still in your life? How much is it a factor? Did you know you're the only German or half German person in it this week?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: It's running through me. As I get older, I guess I'm becoming more of a stickler. I was raised by a German. I don't think he raised me in a very French fashion. I'd say in some parts he did growing up, with food and things like that. For the most part, I was raised very German.

I don't speak the language, and I appreciate the culture and the discipline that comes along with it and the structure that the Germans have. But besides that, I don't wake up feeling German.

Q. Is it a place that you would go back to at some point?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, absolutely. I enjoy eating the food there. The beer is incredible. It's definitely a good place to camp out for at least a week.

Q. Any particular place you like the most?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: I think every region's got its sort of specialty, especially with beer. I thought Stuttgart was kind of a mixture. It felt a little more naturish there, whereas in Munich it felt more of a city, I guess.

I'm sure I could venture out and visit more places than I've been just to check it out.

Q. What do you think now? Obviously your run is done, but you've been playing really well. Even this week you played well.

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Just rest up. I was a little bit tired this week, to be completely honest. I tried my best. Literally I'm probably not going to golf for five or six days at least. Go home, camp out with my dogs, and just hang out.

I'm not going to do much. Just get recharged, get excited about playing again. Memphis and East Lake and then the swing in between there, the BMW. Those courses are going to play very different than what we've been playing. Probably start hitting more up on the golf ball and sort of change my outlook. Putting on Bermuda versus fescue is very different. Just get reacclimated back to Parkland golf.

Q. This fall will be the last fall of the old regime and then the new regime will start. Are you much of a fall guy and are you looking forward to having the change?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: It's interesting. I'm definitely a fan of the change. I feel like I've been someone that's been more of, been dying for an off-season versus creating one. I think I've always created one in the fall. I think, if they can create one for us, maybe I'll be more likely to play the events that are scheduled while we have that break in between.

But I've always used the fall as more of a break time for me just to shut it down.

Q. How long does it take you to traverse, do you think, from this course, from this setup, to the other setups?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Not too long. It's more of a mental thing, I'd say. I'm sure there's some physical stuff that's going to go on, hitting it more up on the golf ball, taking it further forward in the stance, things like that. But a few range sessions, and it should be good to go.

Q. What did you think of the town? Did you spend much time in it?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: I'm actually in a little village just outside, about 15 minutes. Just northeast of that. It's a smaller town literally. It's charming. It's cool. It's definitely, I imagine, if I grew up here, what my outlook would be like, different than growing up in San Diego.

The place is really charming. The town is something where I'd like to come back and visit when it's not so packed. I think I'd enjoy that some more.