Xander Schauffele returned to golf courses, to the general delight of fans, but there were many who wondered if this 31-year-old could really be impressive after a long absence. Last year’s No.2 wanted to take the leading position this season, but by missing several tournaments, he also lost second place, after Rory McIlroy took his position.
However, Xander recovered, deciding to return to golf courses, with the Arnold Palmer Invitational as his first challenge. The 31-year-old disappointed, with six bogeys and one birdie. That was enough for Schauffele to finish after the first day as T52.
The American golfer tried to share his optimism in his interview with the media, saying that he expected a tough tournament.
“Got my a**kicked,” Schauffele said while smilling, as quoted by The News&Observer.
“It’s a tough place to come back to, not going to lie. Palm Springs would have been nice, something like that, that would have been a little bit easier.”
Xander Schauffele: I hit a couple really, really good shots
The most important thing for him is that the injury has not returned, not having any problems with it. Xander did not want to be negative, looking at things positively and stressing that he hit a few good shots.
However, the mistakes he made have stood in the way of his success, and it is really hard to imagine Schauffele being able to pull himself out of this situation, especially after the injury.
“I hit a couple really, really good shots,” Schauffele said.
“For the most part, the direction was pretty decent. I gotta go look at sort of what I did, to not be too biased, but really felt I made mistakes into greens. Three-putting from seven feet is never gonna get it done,” Schauffele said with a smile. “So, there’s, like, little bit of that and little bit of here and there. So overall, I mean, definitely lots to build on.”
