WM PHOENIX OPEN

February 9, 2023

Xander Schauffele

TPC Scottsdale

Quick Quotes

Q. Xander, this tournament, like for the fan experience, where does it belong on the PGA TOUR?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: The fan experience? I'd say number one. It has to be up there. There's a few other tournaments that do a really nice job, but you can kind of get whatever you'd like out here. There's a lot of good golfers on property. There's a lot of partying. There's a lot of drinking. If you're not a golf fan, you can still have fun out here.

This is probably the place to start.

Q. Obviously you play here pretty much every year, but does it feel different or did it feel different today with this star-studded field being an elevated event?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, I mean, I feel like this tournament draws really good players typically. None of the guys really seem to mind the crowds and the people and everyone getting into it. I'd say the only thing that felt different was it being super windy.

Q. Obviously there's a lot of talk about the elevated purse. How much does that weigh on you guys' mind going into the tournament, or how much are the players thinking about it going in?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: I'm not sure. I can't really speak for everyone. It feels just like another week, to be completely honest. We're not really thinking -- I'm assuming most of the guys aren't really thinking about the payout when they're playing golf, but I can't speak for everybody.

Q. How big is it for you guys to consistently have these elevated purses? You've got Genesis coming up. How big is that change?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, it's nice. I think from a fan experience, it's really good that the top players are showing up. I'm a fan of golf. Obviously I don't watch it as much as some people do, but I'd like to see the top players hash it out every week.

Q. Do you feel like the setup is a little bit harder than years past?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: It was tricky. They moved one pin there on 15. It was a front left pin and it was blowing 30 left to right, so they moved that to the right. There were a few really hard ones.

I'd say there's no great way to set the course up when you have a bunch of crosswinds coming across all these holes. I thought it was all right.

Q. Do you like that challenge or would you prefer it set up easier?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: I don't mind. You just don't expect it coming here. It's Arizona, it's not Las Vegas where it blows every day. Yeah, that's pretty much it.

Q. Chilly morning this morning; back still feeling good?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, yeah. I was actually glass half empty, half full. I just realized an hour or two hour -- hour and 45 delay would mean we would come out when the sun was up, so I was happy about that.

Q. When you're on a hole like 16 and there's so much commotion and crowd, is there anything you say to yourself to help you dial in and hit the shot?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: It almost becomes white noise. I'd say 16 would almost feel creepy if it was like completely quiet, which is impossible. You've just got to enjoy the experience.

Q. What was the reaction today? I can't imagine.

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Oh, since I was the loser of the group, hitting it to 50 feet and three-putting. Tony almost holed out. It was cool; you couldn't even see it live. We had to look up on the screen, and I think he got gypped on the measuring there on a foot, 4 inches. I think it was about eight inches.

Q. Did you get booed pretty badly for the three-putt?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah. I was booing myself in my own head, too, though.

Q. Six fairways today, the driver seemed to be going a little bit left, but only one bogey on the scorecard. What is that attributed to?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: I thought I hit my driver pretty good. There's a lot of hard holes to hit the fairways on. I kept the ball on the correct side of the hole based on which way it was framed most of the time. I thought I did a pretty good job of that.

Q. You just missed fairways by a bit?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, not much, and when I was on the wrong side or in the rough, I was on the correct side for the most part.