WGC DELL TECHNOLOGIES MATCH PLAY

March 25, 2023

Xander Schauffele

Austin Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. How would you assess that match? Quite a lot of fun for us to watch.

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, it was a bummer. Hit the tree, I guess. It looked like his ball was going to hit the tree and mine hit the tree, even though it seemed like it was right of it.

It's unfortunate that it came down to that sort of bad break there for me in the end.

Q. Definitely a stupid question; is there any appreciation for how good the match was even though you just lost?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: No, it was a great match. I mean, I felt like I definitely had the better of him, I feel. I had looks where he didn't and he made putts when I was just kind of waiting around.

He played well. Made a lot of those pressure five to eight-footers that he needed to all day. That's what kind of kept him in it. I didn't capitalize. I missed that putt on 17, missed the putt on 14. It was just one of those days.

Q. A match that tight, does luck play a pretty significant role?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, a little bit. You look at that finishing hole, he hit a worse drive than I did and he ended up fine. Yeah, it's just a little bit -- he thought it was his ball when he walked up and then kind of walked past it, and I was like, oh, my goodness. No way. Of course the tree perfectly there. Yeah, it is what it is.

Q. Other than those two putts, was there a shot you can think of that maybe you'd like to do differently or --

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, we had a long wait on 13. Toed it, hit it in the water, bad execution, right club and everything else. Wouldn't do anything different there other than hit it in the center of the face.

Other than that, yeah, if you just go back and look at the tape, he made a lot of really important putts from that five- to eight-foot range, which is sweaty out here on these greens. He definitely earned it.

Q. Any thoughts of going -- was it obvious to you to go right around the tree or left or was it a debate?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: If I wanted to have an opportunity to make birdie, I needed to go left and hope for -- like try to cut it out of the thick rough, but that was never going to happen, so hope for like a right bounce.

And it was like two feet away from getting on the green, and coming down for -- I probably would have been a putt inside of his. It was a miracle shot and I needed a lot of help, and wasn't able to pull it off.

Q. After great week off, obviously heading towards the Masters, are you real happy with where your game is heading towards Augusta?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, this is great. Feel pretty good. Even after losing, it's one of those things I feel at rest sort of with where my game is. Just going to fine tune some things next week, just get ready for that undulation and those speed putts and hitting off of hook and downslope and cut lies for Augusta.