THE 152ND OPEN

July 20, 2024

Xander Schauffele

Mixed Zone

Q. Xander, I'm guessing job number one today was to put yourself in position for Sunday. Do you feel you've done that?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, tournament is far from over. If you can get yourself in position with a few holes to play, I think you've really done your job for the week, but this was a good start to that.

Q. You've got a major under your belt now. Is the experience with getting it done going to be crucial tomorrow?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: If I can get myself in a really good position, yeah. It's a packed leaderboard, and it's going to be one of those where you just really have to keep your head down and try to worry about yourself.

Q. Is that the longest 7,100 yards you've ever played?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: The course?

Q. Yeah.

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: The back nine, yeah, however long it is, 3,500 yards. Yeah, it was probably up there, I'd say.

Q. What was the most unusual club and yardage you played on the back nine?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Probably the 3-wood on 17. It felt windy, but it didn't feel like -- you know, like the gusts you think you can get out here, 30, 40, but with a little bit of rain and a little bit of cooler air.

I heeled it, and I think the front was like 220. I had five paces short. So I literally smoked a 3-wood, a little off the heel and thin into the wind and rain, and it went 218 yards or something like that. So that was pretty humbling.

Q. In Phoenix off a tee, how far would you have hit that 3-wood?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Over 300 yards, I would imagine.

Q. When the weather gets like that, how much is it mental?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: It means everything. It is a true test. It's a long day, and you and your caddie are basically a team. He's going to need an extra arm. I at times need an extra hand. We basically just plod our way around the property.

You try to get lost in the process, and fortunately we were able to do that on a tough day like today.

Q. You've played in Scotland before, but this would be quite a number today in Scotland to talk about.

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, I'll let myself dream tonight, but it would be very nice.

Q. You know how Tiger has that grind-it-out quality he always has. You saw it up close, playing really poorly but still grinding it out. Any carryover for you or any lesson for you just watching it closely these past couple days for you today?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, when you start asking him questions about how he thinks about things or how he preps for things, it's more in his preparation where you call him a madman in terms of how bad someone or a person can want something. That just carried over to him playing and competing on the course.

We've all seen it, and us players have a ton of respect for it.

Q. (Indiscernible) for you at all in your play today?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: You've got to find -- there's times where you have to have a good attitude. There's times you have to have brute force and feel like you're forcing a situation. As they say, brute force is not something that's sustainable. A day like today, you kind of had to tap into a little bit of that.

Q. How much leaderboard watching were you doing today?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: It was hard to look up. I didn't see too many leader boards. I saw some here and there, but I didn't really care too much for them.

Today was a day where you're one bad shot away from having a nightmare on certain holes. You really just had to keep it in front of you.

Q. Tiger didn't give you any good luck messages for the weekend when you shook hands with him yesterday or wish you well for the weekend?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: I know he's pulling for me.

Q. Have you spoken with him since?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: No, you have to win these things to get a text from him (laughter).

Q. Is that one of the better 69s you think you've shot in your career?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: I'd say so, yes. It for sure was. With everything that's at stake here and how the weather played from hole 1 basically and having to adjust, I would say it's up there.

Q. Guys earlier, way earlier, seemed to have it easy today. Easier anyway, a lot of good scores. When was it obvious to you it wasn't going to be easy?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: It's just, when you look at the flow of an Open Championship, this is like a classic one to me. I don't know what the wave split was, but I was in the good wave, and depending on how you played, if you were able to survive the bad wave, you were rewarded.

You obviously had to go out there and shoot a number, but you were rewarded with a good morning, and those guys did that. The board sort of started to go this way. There was separation, and then everyone just kind of came together.

It's sort of a classic links and Open, from a spectating standpoint when I'm at home. It is what it is.

Q. Would it be going too far to say this is the toughest Open you've played in, in terms of the conditions, in terms of the pressure that everybody seems to be under?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: I'm not sure. I can't really put a finger on it right now.

Q. But it's like a war of attrition, though, in terms of getting round when it's like this?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: I'm lucky. I love playing golf, and I love my job, and I love playing over here. For me it's all fun, and I just try to have as much fun as possible even on a day like today.

Q. You got second place at Carnoustie, and you said your prep meal was beans and sausages. What will you have tonight?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Probably not that.

Q. Have a few for luck?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Maybe a little bit, yeah.

Q. Does the win at Valhalla make tomorrow any easier or give you a better feeling having done it just not that long ago?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: I'd have to take a guess, but I imagine it's not going to hurt me. If I'm in that spot with a few holes to play, I think I can maybe lean on that. It's just such a different style of golf. It's such a different tournament. That's the great thing about these majors is they're very different, and it's an honour to try to win them.

Q. What is it the backwards hat in the rain. You see Justin Rose of all people with a backwards hat.

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: It's just a water thing. If your hat collects too much water, it will start dripping down. When you're sitting there and trying to putt and there's an extra collection of water dropping down on your putter or ball or hands, it's not great. Just flip it around and go ready.

Q. I know it's not fun to play in these conditions, but do you enjoy it?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: I enjoy the challenge. Everyone has parts of their job that they don't like across the board. So I'm lucky. I'm still outside. I know it's raining, but it's a really nice thing for me to do, just try to test myself, and today was that.

Q. How many back do you think has a legitimate shot tomorrow?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: It's weather. These things are so weather dependent. If it was the same as today, if someone was even-par or a couple over and they shoot 7-under, 8-under, I'd say that's a pretty realistic chance of winning.

Q. Had you ever heard of Daniel Brown before this week? Did you know who he was? He plays on DP World Tour.

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: I've heard of him before, but no, I've never met him.