BMW CHAMPIONSHIP

August 20, 2023

Xander Schauffele

Olympia Fields Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. Just overall thoughts on this week for you.

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, it was a weird one. I haven't really shot anything too low to sort of get myself in contention, but last week was a bit tough for me off the tee, and it was a big focus for this week.

I just can't seem to get everything clicking at once right now. Last week was terrible off the tee; this week was a lot better. Last week was way better into the greens; this week was a lot worse. Scrambling has been spotty overall and putting has been a little spotty, as well.

Just need to -- my goal was to sort of jump into the top 10 so I'm not too far behind going into next week since I know how much of a chase that can be. Yeah, I'm going to need to shoot something very low the first couple days to get myself in contention for next week.

Q. With all that said, you obviously quite enjoy East Lake. Obviously good memories there. Do you have some confidence rolling in there?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah. I've shot some low scores there. Played really well on the property.

You of course want to be sort of in tiptop form, but I've always stressed every year I've gone into East Lake using these events to sort of get myself game day ready, and that's what we've been doing.

Q. Looks like you've done enough to earn your spot on the U.S. Ryder Cup team, automatic qualifying. What does that mean to you to play in the Ryder Cup?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, it's definitely a goal. You don't really want to sit around and wait for the phone call. Been on both sides of it, to be completely honest, for a Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup team. I can't remember which one was a pick, which one was not. But I remember getting a call saying no and a call saying yes. It's nice to automatically qualify.

Q. How much was that on your mind today, this whole week?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: I wasn't too worried about it to be completely honest. I told Austin on Wednesday that I'd really like to automatically qualify, just to sort of not sweat it at all. But yeah, FedExCup has been on my mind a lot more than anything else, and that's really what I was thinking about.

Q. Were you aware what you needed to do coming down the stretch there?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: No, sort of in that boat where the lead is just -- just starts slipping away from you and you only have nine holes to play and all of a sudden you have to shoot 9-under to get into touch with the leaders. That's what it felt like today, and I was just trying to make as many birdies as possible.

Q. Would you have been worried that maybe you wouldn't get picked if you're the first guy out?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: I mean, I would hope that I would get picked. I think I've proven enough in those events, in the team rooms and with my golf that I can play in these team events and help a team win.

You never know, though. Like I said, it's nice to automatically qualify.