At the Royal Montreal Golf Club, everyone is obsessed with Scottie Scheffler.
Fans, organizers and members of the media huddle around the world number one to scrutinize his every move. On the course, at the driving range and at the clubhouse, all eyes are on him.
Meanwhile, Xander Schauffele is doing his usual work in the shadow of his compatriot. Yet he is the only player who can compete with Scheffler for the title of best player of the season.
Schauffele has won two titles in 2024: the PGA Championship and the British Open. His first two major titles. Since May, he has been sidelined from the top 10 in just two tournaments. Statistically, he was the best player on the PGA Tour on the greens, in addition to outpacing all his rivals in pars and birdies made without reaching the green in regulation shots.
The 30-year-old American arrives in Montreal pumped up. “Golf is complex. So we want to take advantage of everything that can help us. Sometimes, we see guys miss six, seven, eight cuts, and suddenly, they win a tournament. It’s often a detail on the course that tips the scales,” he explained to the representative of The Press about the fragility of trust in a sport like his.
In his opinion, overconfidence is less harmful than doubt. However, he knows how small the difference is: “You can be on top of the world and suddenly play very badly. The important thing is to understand what’s wrong quickly. Being consistent is complicated.”
And the better a golfer plays, the more he faces challenges that only the most privileged know, but that are no less real. Fatigue, for example, and the emotional toll of playing over and over until Sunday can take its toll, he said. “It takes a little bit more out of you each time. The back nine definitely feels longer, but you feel reborn after every shot.”
Schauffele has survived the cut in each of his 21 tournaments. So he came into the Presidents Cup with the wind in his sails.
The qualities
In his opinion, the greatest quality in a golfer is his ability to forget quickly. A talent he believes he possesses. At the 2021 Ryder Cup, he faced Rory McIlroy alone on the final day of competition. He had been selected by then-U.S. team captain Steve Stricker to start the day, playing the first duel of the day. “And I got soundly beaten,” Schauffele recalled, after losing 3-2.
In this team competition format, he emphasizes the rich range of emotions experienced by the players. “I always believed in the advantage of creating energy in team events. We ended up winning, but I was so angry with myself. It eventually passed, but even when the team wins, if you lost, you feel guilty, because you didn’t do what you had to do completely.”
Especially since with the pace of play that PGA Tour golfers have to play, he finds it hard to stop. Schauffele rarely takes the time to enjoy the moment or rest on his laurels.
In a context like the Presidents Cup, at the very end of the season, he thinks he can approach things differently.
“There are about 70 people around the U.S. team. Everyone is motivated. When you have that many people around you, you really feel like you’ve won. When you win an individual tournament, you talk to the media for three hours, sign autographs, and then you jump on a plane to the next tournament. The next day, when you’re there, people come to congratulate you and there’s promotion to do while you want to try to compete and adapt to a new tournament, a new pitch and a new course.”
The new role
With Patrick Cantlay and Tony Finau also making their third appearance at the Presidents Cup, Schauffele must assume, whether he likes it or not, the role of mentor.
“I don’t feel old, though,” he says with a laugh. His teammates “are comfortable coming [lui] speak or [lui] ask questions”.
At 30, Schauffele is still one of the six youngest players on his team. He feels he still has a lot to learn. Especially how to deal with his teammates’ apprehensions. For him, few things compare to the pressure of having to play for his compatriots.
When he misses simple putts, for example, “the reflex is not to think about his individual performance, but about the fate of the team.”
There is one golden rule, however: never apologize. “If you apologize, it means you didn’t try hard enough.” And Schauffele refuses to be criticized for that, because he has too much to offer.
“I let my golf do the talking. That’s always been my mantra. Here, it’s the same thing. I just want to produce a ton of points!”