THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP

March 14, 2024

Xander Schauffele

TPC Sawgrass

Quick Quotes

Q. Talk about the second shots on 5 and 7 and how that held things together for you today.

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: 5 was just a great break. Hit a hard drive on the wind. Helps to have a little bit more distance, it kind of extends that leg. That's not sort of how I would like to use it, but last year that ball probably would have caught the corner of the water there. I was able to cover and just trying to hit it up by the green and was able to hit it to three feet. That was a big bonus on 5.

7 was a big risk shot. Once I hit it on short grass I just told myself to pay it off and get up-and-down no matter what.

Q. Where you landed on 7 was that where you were, was that your best hope that you would wind up where you were?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, because the greens are receptive, but if you go sort of too far on the line that I was on I would have had to hit a flop over that huge mound. Which is doable, with how soft the greens are, but where I put it was sort of A 1.

Q. Even with good conditions, wind not real great, no bogeys out here is a great round any time, right?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, I mean, I wouldn't want to re-hit a few of those shots today, I can tell you that much. I definitely need to clean it up.

Q. There are some pretty low numbers out there, you mentioned the greens being receptive, did you see this coming?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, it just seems to be the case out here. When greens are smooth, when you hit really good putts, they're going to go in from distance. Being receptive, you can kind of be a little bit more aggressive in spots. The rough is thicker than normal, so if you are hanging out in the rough, you're not going to be having too much fun.

Q. It was hard to tell what your lie and everything looked like on 7, like what you were looking at to play it safe or what you were looking at to hit through.

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, there was a huge stump where my right foot was going, and to pitch out it would have been up and over to a fairway I couldn't see with a leaf behind my ball going that direction, and it was like a 50-yard shot. I was like -- and then going straight the ball was kind of sitting down. I had to hoist it up, so I hit 8-iron and was able to hit sort of a high sweep across the bunker and water. So, I told Austin I can live with the hero shot versus like messing up the pitch-out and chipping out again.

Q. Did you go through a window or did you go over everything on that second shot?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: It was over everything, but it was just like a window that was pretty high up.

Q. You had to really, really get it way high?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: I would not want to hit the shot again.

Q. What was the club again?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: An 8-iron.

Q. What was the distance?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: 163 yards to the front edge is all I know. It was enough for me.

Q. You talked about success here in your debut when it was in May and maybe some struggles when it moved to March. What was different about today than maybe past times playing here in March?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Just playing good golf. Pretty confident with where my game's at, and it's nice to see -- I've been struggling with the putter a little bit, but it was nice to see some putts go in from distance today and it's just day one.

Q. How much farther are you hitting it from last year, and is that a result of swing changes?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Just a little bit. Nothing out of this world. I would say averaging, I don't know, a couple miles per hour.