THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP

March 17, 2024

Xander Schauffele

TPC Sawgrass

Quick Quotes

Q. Xander, good playing. It looked like you were in good shape through 13 holes. Did you feel like you had your "A" game today?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: No. No. I'd say "A" game would be a little bit more than 2-under. But I hung in there. I gave myself a realistic chance. Not on 18, but on 17. If I made that, it could have been a different story.

I hung tough, and, yeah, no surprise to see Scottie's name up there.

Q. Did you find what you were looking for last night on the range when you went there?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: A little bit. I hit some better shots today in some tough spots. I didn't really convert on some of the putts that I wanted. When you're trying to win a tournament you've got to make those sketchy nine-footers, and I missed a couple of them or a few of them on the back nine.

Q. What are you thinking as you see Scottie's name charging up?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: It's just another week.

Q. The putt on 17, read too much break?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: It's such a small stroke with some wind, and I felt like I started it a little bit left. I felt like I had a good read. I told Austin I felt it started a little bit left of my line. Just a poor execution.

Q. I know you're not a huge social media guy, but the haters are probably going to say another close call for Xander, didn't finish. What do you think about that?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, I'm going to lick my wounds. I'll probably join them in the Hateraide at this moment. But it is what it is. These suck. When I went to bed last night, it's not exactly how I envisioned walking off the 18th green. I'll lick my wounds and right back to it next week.

Q. Feeling positive even in a close call?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, a ton of positives. I haven't cracked an egg since they moved this tournament to this time of year. To hang in there with the best of them is good for me to know. I came in second -- lost by a lot though to Webb, I believe, when it was firm and fast. That second felt different. This one sucks a little bit more, but just another close call.

Q. Did you have any horrible horseshoes out there or power lip-outs? It's one shot, you can look back at a lot of them -- what did you make of Wyndham's horrible horseshoe?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: That's not really how I live my life, to be completely honest I like to take a sort of long-term approach or bigger picture. I'm sure we're bathing in a similar bath right now of misery, but the way he finished there, he fought hard, and it was a tough one for him.

Q. 16, 17 and 18 are pretty fearsome holes to try and press on. What's the feeling knowing that you have to go after it on those holes where there's so much danger?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: It's not too crazy, as weird as that sounds, you're trying to win a golf tournament. To me, I tell myself all the time, if you're trying to win you've got to walk through the fire, and if you're able to walk through unscathed, then you're going to win the tournament.

Q. How did you feel going into 14 and how did you feel coming out of 15?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: 14, the par-4, I had a decent lie. Really just -- I don't know if there was mud on some part of it, but the way it came out and sort of sliced for a 9-iron, it moved like 50 yards, and it wasn't blowing very much. Austin and I were surprised. It was a terrible spot to chip from. It was probably a 2 or 3 out of 10 up-and-down on 14. Then 15 was not the end of the world, I felt like I would get that ball up and down more times than not. Just untimely mistakes.

Q. Mentally, are you thinking something different coming out of there? You came in with the lead, left those two holes without the lead.

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: No. I feel like I've been trying to just commit. My dad told me a long time ago to commit, execute, and accept. I'm swallowing a heavy dose of acceptance right now, but that's kind of what I did. I tried to commit, I executed poorly on some shots, and here I am accepting it.