PONTE VEDRA BEEACH, Fla. Xander Schauffele was tied for second at the Players Championship 2018 but has missed the cut three times in succession since that stellar performance. This little fact should not be forgotten.
Schauffele stated, “You’re actually second man, someone outside reminded my how terrible my record is now after my tied second finish,” before the Players Championship. “I didn’t know I was so terrible here. It’s a great job, you guys. It’s nice to have a reality check. My wife usually gives me one. We’ll let it stay in the media area today.”
Schauffele, joking aside, has done his best to forget about last year’s Players Championship.
“Last year, I would wash up like an X. He said that it felt like we were at an Open Championship, and that he got the worst side of the wave.
Schauffele dipped his tee just short of the island green as the wind gusted at TPC Sawgrass. His round spiraled out-of-control. His caddie Austin Kaiser showed him a social media stat that showed how quickly things had gone wrong.
Schauffele shot 73-78, and took the weekend off. “He showed me that I was the first to go from like 10 to outside of the top 100 or some such thing in one hole.” “Like I stated, my team is all about giving reality checks to me and I got one.”
Schauffele, ranked No. No. 6 in the world is not the only major-name player to have been sent packing in recent years. Pete Dye’s house full of horrors can reveal any weakness in a player’s game. It doesn’t discriminate even from major winners Collin Morikawa and Jordan Spieth.
Collin Morikawa hit his tee shot at the 17th hole of the 2021 Players Championship golf tournament held at TPC Sawgrass Stadium Course. Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
Morikawa stated that “To be truthful, my game only felt good going into this tournament in 2020.” He cited the year the tournament was cancelled due to COVID-19. Sometimes you go to events and feel very comfortable. You’re either comfortable with the venue or the course. This course fits my game perfectly. I feel at ease here. It’s a good course for me, although I have a few mid-irons that are short and it can be difficult to get to greens. My past history is not a concern.
As a rookie, Spieth almost won the Players in 2014. He finished in a tie for fourth with a final-round score of 74. But, he has remained on the struggle bus ever since.
“I don’t have a good track record at this event. This is easy to find. It doesn’t take much research to figure that. But, I feel that when you strike it well, have some momentum, and feel like you can play aggressively here with a bit of freedom, that’s kind of my strategy for this week. Spieth stated that patience is important, but you should also be ready to fire when you have the chance.”
Spieth was reminded by a reporter that he had missed five cuts in seven of his most recent appearances. He cut him off and stated, “I said it didn’t take much research.” It didn’t take me long to research it.
Spieth then tried to explain why TPC sawgrass was a Rubik’s Cube he couldn’t solve. He said, “I don’t have enough patience to play it.” This goes against the idea of being aggressive. There’s a balance between being confident and swinging aggressively at the right targets. Visually, I have struggled on this course as I love to see many feel shots and there isn’t much to work off of. It seems that if a ball moves away from a green, it will just move further away from the hole. That’s all I can think of at the moment.
Scheffler, another victim of the draw’s bad side, was cut just short of the cut last year. He finished T-55 having missed the cut in his debut in 2021.
Scheffler stated, “There isn’t one man that has an advantage at this place.” Scheffler said, “I was speaking to some guys earlier and one said that it was a thinking men’s course. I replied that it is actually the opposite. You just need to hit really good shots if your goal is to play well. This place is not for the faint of heart. It’s all about hitting fairways and greens, and then moving on.
“If you don’t play really well golf, you won’t score.” And if you play well, you will shoot low scores. As a player, I think that we truly appreciate that. You see the guy who is playing his best each week.
It is why it is so highly coveted in professional men’s golf. Morikawa was asked what he would consider the badge of honor should he win this week.
Morikawa stated, “The title is all that matters to us.” “Just knowing that you won the Players Championship. You can never lose that place in history, I believe. You can still hold that title, no matter how many times you beat 20 men or 144. There are no excuses for what happened. There are no ifs or buts. It’s that you did it in whatever year, and that’s yours.
