Dan Rapaport says if Xander Schauffele should be in the US Ryder Cup team after suffering ‘severe’ injury

Add as preferred source on Google

Xander Schauffele is still getting back into the swing of things after suffering an acute intercostal strain earlier this year.

Schauffele missed around two months of the season before returning to action at The Arnold Palmer Invitational in March.

The 31-year-old Californian has been extremely rusty during the five tournaments he has played since his return.

That said, he is trending in the right direction, with three successive top-18 finishes to his name.

The most recent of those came at The RBC Heritage last week, although Schauffele did suggest that he found it difficult chasing down the scores shot by early pace-setter Justin Thomas.

Schauffele recently admitted to feeling hugely motivated whilst on the sidelines watching his rivals win big tournaments – notably Rory McIlroy.

The two-time major champion will now be targeting at least one win during the remainder of the season, but it would surprise nobody if he ended the year as a multiple winner.

And then his focus will switch firmly to the Ryder Cup at Bethpage in September.

Dan Rapaport says if Xander Schauffele should be in the US Ryder Cup team

Golf journalist Dan Rapaport is well known to be a big fan of Schauffele.

Rapaport hosted his Dan on Golf podcast this week, and one of the segments revolved around the upcoming Ryder Cup in New York state later this year.

He was asked to pick the 12 players he thinks should represent the USA against Team Europe in September.

And Rapaport went into detail about Schauffele’s hopes of making the team.

“One of those who is definitely going to be there is Xander Schauffele. So, we talk about Scottie having a little bit of a slow start this year, Xander has had an even slower start, his injury was a little bit more severe, and he missed more time. But what I’m just so impressed by is that he has 11 straight finishes of T-18 or better in the majors – that’s almost three full years of major championships finishing T-18 or better. You know what you’re getting, obviously two majors last year. He plays with Cantlay, he plays with Morikawa, he’s part of our backbone. He’s part of that Scottie, Xander, JT backbone, so Xander is still a no-brainer.”

It must be said, Schauffele is surely a banker to be part of Team USA at Bethpage later this year.

Wouldn’t it be a major shock if he wasn’t!

Xander Schauffele’s best finishes in majors

The American has become somewhat of a major specialist in recent years.

He has only missed three cuts at majors during his career, and hasn’t been outside the top 18 in his last 11 starts in golf’s four premier events.

Schauffele is an elite player, there is no doubting that.

He is incredibly long off the tee, and regularly clocks mid-180mph ball speeds.

The American’s short game is right up there with the very best on tour, and when he’s on top form, he’s a match for anyone.

Xander Schauffele will be part of the 2025 Ryder Cup, there’s absolutely no doubt about that.

And by the time the eagerly anticipated event starts, he will undoubtedly be back to his very best.