The Ryder Cup is now just under six weeks away, and there are numerous American players who are really struggling for form.
Keegan Bradley will lead his side out at Bethpage Black for the 45th edition of the Ryder Cup next month.
The likes of Collin Morikawa and Justin Thomas are struggling with their games ahead of the Ryder Cup, and Bradley will undoubtedly be concerned in that regard.
However, they aren’t the only players hoping to be on the US team who are having problems right now.
The back end of the American team looks weaker than it has historically.
And unfortunately, one absolute stalwart of the the US team has had one of his worst seasons in recent memory.
Xander Schauffele says what he plans to do in order to get ready for the Ryder Cup
It has been a really difficult season for Xander Schauffele this year.
In fairness to the 31-year-old, he did miss the first two months of the season after suffering a small cartilage tear and an intercostal strain.
And while he has been far from terrible since returning to action, he has been miles off his best form.
Schauffele has admitted that he has had too many swing thoughts running through his mind this season.
And that has clearly been mentally draining for him. The two-time major champion spoke to reporters after his final round at the BMW Championship this week, and highlighted the only two positives of his 2025 season.
He said: “Yeah, at some point I’m going to sit back and reflect and try and learn something from it. Yeah, it was mentally a long season for me even though it was short. So physically I feel a lot better, which is a plus. No sort of recurring injury, which is a plus.
“About the only positives I can think of so far.“
He was then asked what he plans to do now, in order to get ready for the Ryder Cup, with his PGA Tour season now over.
Schauffele said: “Probably more mental than anything else. I feel like I just need to sort of reset a little bit, cool off a little bit, and just get back to a healthy mental place where I want to sit down and work really hard again.
“Right now I’m mentally a little tapped.
“I mean, everyone out here is trying really hard. There’s nothing worse than trying your hardest and playing like ass. It’s the worst combo. Some of us do it, some of us don’t. It’s been a while since I have, and I did it for a few weeks now, and it sucked.
“It’s going to be nice to sit back and be at home and away from golf.
“Just not golfing. Pretty simple, yeah. Not golfing, trying not to think about golf. Just hang out at home with my wife and my dogs. Yeah, don’t even look at the clubs.“
Why Xander Schauffele was nearly kicked off the 2023 Ryder Cup team
Schauffele’s father, Stefan, made a series of bold statements during a recent interview with The Times in the UK.
Back in 2023, Schauffele wanted to make three amendments to the player participation and benefit agreement that was laid out by the PGA of America.
However, the PGA of America threatened to pull the PGA Tour star out of the team if he didn’t sign the documents, according to Schauffele’s father.
He said: “The PGA of America were not willing to even talk to us about [the three amendments],” Stefan Schauffele told The Times. “It was very late in the schedule right before the team came [to Rome] to practice because they had moved the deadline, and they said, ‘If you don’t sign it by then, you’re off the team,’ but they never gave us the contact information of their legal counsel.
“Saturday morning of Labor Day weekend, finally, the head of the PGA of America got wind of this, because it was not him that was blocking it, and put our lawyers in contact with the PGA of America’s general counsel, and then it took a few hours to hash it out, and it was fine. Then I received a message that Xander was back on the team. That you can quote. That’s the extent of this, and I think it’s shameful.“
Schauffele clearly doesn’t see eye to eye with the PGA of America, and it could be questioned whether he actually has a great desire to play at the Ryder Cup in the first place.
Everything seems to be working in Europe’s favour ahead of the Ryder Cup, with the United States facing numerous different problems right now.
And Schauffele’s poor recent form is one of the most pressing concerns for the Americans.
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