Xander Schauffele will be hoping to win his third major this week at The Masters.
All eyes are on Augusta National for the 89th edition of The Masters, and Xande Schauffele heads into the event slightly under the radar for a change.
The 31-year-old American has been recovering from an injury, and missed around two months of the season before his return to competitive golf at The Arnold Palmer Invitational last month.
As a result, Schauffele is not being as strongly tipped to win The Masters as he would have if he were healthy and in full competition mode.
Xande Schauffele recently raved about the condition of Augusta National ahead of The Masters, sharing his amazement at how the green staff get the golf course in such fabulous condition every single year.
However, there are changes made pretty much every time the players come back to what is arguably the most famous golf course on the planet.
Xander Schauffele has noticed ‘crazy’ change about Augusta National
The PGA Tour star is well accustomed to playing at Augusta National now.
This year will be his eighth appearance at The Masters, and he has already tucked away two top-three finishes and two top-10’s.
However, the golf course may well be slightly different this time around.
When asked if like he’s still getting warmed up, Schauffele responded:
“No, it’s all — to me, it’s all good feels. I played the back nine yesterday. Now I’m thinking about how I wrenched that shot, thank you. It’s at the front of mind. But when I went there, I was like, how is this hole different once the storm came through. I was looking at trees. It almost felt like I was playing the back nine for the first time. There’s trees you aim at off the tee, and over the 11th green you can — when you’re walking down 10 you can see half the course.
Xande then shared how crazy it is that so many trees have gone after the severe storms that impacted the east coast of the United States:
“It’s pretty crazy to sort of see how many — it’s sad, too, to see how many trees have fallen. But it’s all good feels. I don’t ever walk on property saying, I wish I could have done this better. It’s sort of how can I prepare the best this year.“
Xande Schauffele’s record on holes 10 and 11 at Augusta National
Holes 10 and 11 at Augusta are widely considered to be two of the toughest holes on the property.
Schauffele is 11 over par combined on holes 10 and 11 during his time playing in The Masters.
He has made a few double bogies on 11 and has only recorded three birdies on both of those holes throughout his career to date.
In fairness to him, they are both incredibly tough golf holes, but nevertheless, they have clearly given him huge problems.
Xande Schauffele definitely has the game to win around Augusta National, but he will definitely need to sharpen up on holes 10 and 11 if he is to win The Masters this year.
It will also be interesting to see whether he has fully recovered from the intercostal strain and a cartilage tear that caused him so many problems (Golf Digest).
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