Washington (AFP) – Xander Schauffele will try to set aside Paris Olympics heartbreak as he plays alongside gold medalist Scottie Scheffler in the first two rounds of the PGA Tour playoffs. World number two Schauffele, the Tokyo Olympics champion, and top-ranked Scheffler, who surged on the final day to win in Paris, will be together Thursday and Friday at the PGA St. Jude Championship at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee.
Schauffele, who won his first two major titles at this year’s PGA Championship and British Open, shared the lead after the second and third rounds in pursuit of a gold medal repeat in Paris only to fire a 73 in the final round and finish seven strokes behind Scheffler. “It was bad,” Schauffele said. “I was probably more tired than I thought I was. I was pretty bummed out. I went from thinking I could have a good look at gold to maybe silver, then to bronze, and then to, wow, I’m just spectating now.”
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“That’s sort of what happened the last seven, eight holes of that tournament. So that was a bit of a bummer, especially with how the fans were out there. It must have been such a cool feeling to be in the hunt with important shots coming down that stretch, 15 to 18.” Schauffele said he has already tried to analyze the reasons for his flop to try and avoid them over the PGA’s three-week post-season run. “Sort of identified what happened,” he said. “I don’t want to get back into my old habits that I’ve been trying to get out of in these last two or three months. I think some old ones sort of slipped in there. When I tried to put my foot down, it got worse, and I paid the price for it heavily.”
Schauffele had mixed feelings seeing a tearful Scheffler on the medal podium until the Olympic spirit took hold of him. “It’s weird. I’m not going to lie. It’s the weirdest feeling,” said Schauffele. “When Scottie was up there and our flag was raised and he started crying up there, I was butt-hurt about my own round, and then I was sitting there like, yeah, this is pretty cool. I felt so emotional in that state… It’s hard to explain, the swing of it. Then out here this week playing with him these next two days and we’re all just trying to beat our heads in. It’s a funny feeling.”
Schauffele stands second to Scheffler in the season points race entering the PGA FedEx Cup playoff events. This week’s 70-player field will be cut to 50 for next week’s event in Colorado and again to 30 for the Tour Championship in Atlanta. “A sharp mental state just for these last three weeks is going to be the biggest thing,” Schauffele said. “Just being able to focus, and you expect your body to make the leaps with the heat and then the altitude and the heat again. But to me it’s part of our job. We’re supposed to be preparing for that during the off-season and all year long.”
– ‘Have to be a dog’ –
Some players near the top of the points list skip an early event for more rest, but Schauffele won’t be among them. “If you’re trying to win this thing, trying to be the best player over the course of this year, you’re going to just have to do better and be better than everyone else,” he said. “I’m eating the right things, doing the right things to stay in good shape physically and mentally, but when push comes to shove, you’re going to have to be a dog at some point.”
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