U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP 2023

June 15, 2023

Xander Schauffele

The Los Angeles Country Club

Flash Interview

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THE MODERATOR: Xander Schauffele, 8-under 62. You didn't give Rickie much time with the record. 62, did you think that was out there this week?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: It's not really what you expect playing a U.S. Open. But monkey see, monkey do. Was just chasing Rickie up the leaderboard. Glad he was just in front of me.

Q. What did you see out of the course that maybe you hadn't expected?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: I mean, I'd say the sun didn't come out and it was misting this morning, so I'd say the greens held a little bit more moisture than anticipated for myself at least.

I think it made the greens sort of that more holeable speed almost, and then coming into greens you're able to pull some wedges back.

And then the fairways are a little bit softer, too, because of that sort of overcast, and without the sun out it's not drying out much. I think fairways are easier to hit and greens are a little bit softer.

I'm anticipating the sun to come out just as much as every West Coast person out here. I'm thinking the course is going to firm up a little bit.

Q. What club did you hit on No. 7?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: On 7, that was a 4-iron. Pretty much what Austin and I would call a tomahawk 4-iron. That's pretty much all I have in my body.

Q. I've heard you say it's Thursday four or five times in the past couple minutes. However, the record-tying round, does it hold any significance to you?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Well, that's when you're interviewing my caddie, he's not used to that kind of stuff, so I was hearing some weird things. I was like, dude, it's just Thursday, my man.

Sorry, what was your question?

Q. Does it hold any significance to hold the record-tying round?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: I mean, I don't know. It's just Thursday. It's literally just the first day of a tournament. It's a good start.

Q. I was wondering how much of your success today do you attribute to your approach shots as opposed to the rest of the parts of your game today?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Well, just an all-around performance, honestly. Got lucky, made a really long putt. Made a long one on 1. Hit some really nice iron shots in from distance.

It's kind of a mixed bag. I think the only place we were able to get away with a few mis-hits would be off the tee. Coming into greens, like you said, you need to be pretty clean. When I wasn't, I was still able to make birdie because I made some long putts so probably try and clean that up as the days go on.

Q. I only saw your second shot on 6. What did you take off the tee?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: I hit a 4-wood there.

Q. How much kind of variety do you expect over these four days of that hole and your approach based on pins? How much goes into that? Is it going to be four different holes over the course of this week?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, yeah. I think it's going to be quite the viewing party, I guess, once the greens firm, in that sort of back sliver.

But it's anyone's game. Either wedge it in close and try and dance around the pin or try and get risky off the tee.

Today I got risky and sort of paid the price for it. Got a decent line and was able to advance it sort of up towards the green, which was lucky, and made par. At the end of the day it's kind of funny. You play a 300-yard par-4 and I was very happy with a 4.

Q. Did you know you were hitting 4-wood going into today or did you make the decision on the tee?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: It's a little pin dependent. Yeah, I've decided I am going to pretty much go for it most days.

Q. You've played well in U.S. Opens, but does this seem like a U.S. Open course to you in the way the setup is?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, it does. The colors are different. It feels like we're in a park right now and we're used to being sort of on the East Coast with bluegrass and lined fairways and different types of grass which are much darker.

The feel, the stands, everything, the competition definitely feels like a major and a U.S. Open. You just wait until this place firms up. It's going to be nasty.

Q. That's what everybody is looking at these scores going, oh, my God, this is going to be a completely different Open. Is that just not an accurate picture of what they're going to do to it now?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: My job is just to play. I try not to speculate too much. I'm going to take what the course can give me, and today it gave me a low one, and we're going to have to assess it as we go on.

Q. Since you shot 62 do you want to see them make it harder and harder?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: I mean, I just want to keep playing some good golf.

Q. And the attitude, I think that's what Austin was most focusing on out there, was just that you have the right mindset to play hard golf courses well, hard setups well. Do you feel that strongly about that for yourself, and how do you characterize how good you are at doing that?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, I think I've played really well in majors. Obviously haven't won any of them yet, but it's just sort of a type of golf. It's just hard. You have to kind of think your way around.

Austin, actually give him some credit, which I normally don't do too often. He helped me on three or four attempts today where he talked me into a safer line or playing away from trouble, even on 6, for example.

I was trying to go left and he was like, let's go this way. I kept going left, and he's like, let's go this way.

It's a credit to him. We always think we can get away with some ridiculous stuff out there, and sometimes it's nice to have some help to talk you off the ledge.

Q. With regard to Rickie, it's been a few years since he's been kind of up there in major championship leaderboards. He fell out of the rankings a bit; now he's been working his way back. What is your level of respect for him grinding to get it back and searching and starting to see some results?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, Rick's awesome. He's truly probably one of the nicest guys out here. I mean that when I say it. And I couldn't be happier for him to see him in good form.

I've played -- being a Florida a little bit more now, I've played some games with him, and he's just a pleasure to be around. It's not surprising to see him shoot 8-under, either. I'm happy that he's able get back into good form and can compete at a high level.

Q. What do you do on a Thursday afternoon if you've got a late tee time?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: We're all golfers, so we pick apart the things we didn't do well today and then we try and get better at it. I'll have some lunch, go practice a little bit, hang out, and then do it all over again.

Q. What's your mentality if you're eight shots back going out right now?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: I don't know. I mean, it's just a positioning game. You're just trying to keep yourself in touch and play some good golf. I think if you see a couple 8-unders, you're like, oh, wow, the course can give you some if you're playing well. Besides that, it's just Thursday.

Q. Walking around the past couple of days, did you expect for there to be a 62 out there for yourself and even for two guys? What was the talk among the players?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Not really, to be honest. It's rare to hit furniture into a few par-3s and they moved a couple of the tees up today, so it's just going to play different as the week goes on.