Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele are the first and third best players in the world, and they both will have hugely important roles to play for the United States at the upcoming Ryder Cup.
However, it’s not actually as straightforward as that, with the Ryder Cup now just two weeks away. Scheffler was truly incredible during the 2025 season but the same cannot be said for Schauffele, unfortunately.
In fairness to the two-time major champion, he missed the first two months of the season through injury, but there is no room for excuses in elite level sport.
He never gathered any real positive momentum after he returned to action, although he did make every single cut.
So the Procore Championship was viewed as an ideal opportunity for the 31-year-old to rediscover something like his best form.
However, Schauffele is not playing the Procore Championship this week due to his wife having recently given birth, and he is one of only two US Ryder Cup players to be absent from the Silverado rest.
Meanwhile, Scheffler is playing in Napa, and he is currently tied for 14th heading into the weekend.
Scheffler is playing a leadership role among the US Ryder Cup squad according to captain Keegan Bradley.
In fact, Scheffler and Schauffele both very clearly have big influences on the current group of American players.
What Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele have done ahead of Ryder Cup
Bradley has made it very clear just how important it has been for his players to get some competitive action in this week at the Procore Championship.
Five weeks between the Tour Championship and the start of the Ryder Cup at Bethpage would have been far too long a gap without any meaningful tournament play for the US team members.
Now something has come to light about how Scheffler and Schauffele were the two main driving forces behind the idea to get everyone involved with the team playing at the Silverado Resort.
Golf journalist Rex Hoggard was speaking about the upcoming Ryder Cup during The Golf Channel Podcast.
And Hoggard made a claim about Scheffler and Schauffele’s influence on having so many US Ryder Cup players competing at the Procore Championship in Napa.
He said: “You asked me about this week and why it’s such a special week. It is something, I don’t think you and I can overstate how important it is that 10 of the 12 American players are here this week. It’s not something that they really do.
“It’s really important to point out that this was really by many accounts, Scottie’s and Xander Schauffele’s idea. After Rome, they didn’t feel like they were sharp enough. There was a four or five-week break between the Tour Championship and getting to Rome.
“They felt like they were rusty, they didn’t feel like they were ready to play in that event. So they all agreed that they were going to show up here.“
US Ryder Cup winners and losers from the Procore Championship
Ben Griffin is the runaway leader in Napa after two rounds, and his performance has further cemented just how deserving he was of a place on the team.
Meanwhile, Russell Henley and J.J. Spaun have played some great golf as well.
Scheffler and Cameron Young have been solid if not spectacular while Harris English’s iron play has been well below par but in general, his performance hasn’t been too worrying.
However, the form of Justin Thomas, Sam Burns and Patrick Cantlay at the Procore Championship has been slightly concerning for American golf fans.
Thomas sits at two-under par after two rounds while Burns and Cantlay are both one-under par.
With 14-under par leading the tournament, those three players are clearly a long way off where they need to be right now.
In addition to Thomas, Burns and Cantlay, Collin Morikawa continues to disappoint, despite having shot a round of 68 on Friday.
The 28-year-old needs to do a lot more over the course of the next two rounds if he is to head into Bethpage with any kind of confidence.
Much will be revealed this weekend. Are the US Ryder Cup players who are out of form up for the fight, or will they continue to show signs of weakness?
After the European players have finished their rounds at Wentworth on Saturday, they will be keeping a very close eye on the proceedings in Napa, that’s for sure.
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