Xander Schauffele has responded to being asked whether his opening round at the Olympic Games simply represented a continuation of his performance at Royal Troon, with the American sat in second at Le Golf National.
Xander Schauffele looks to be well-placed to win his second Olympic gold medal this week, with the 30-year-old shooting a six under par round of 65 to leave himself two shots back of Hideki Matsuyama in Paris.
Of course, Schauffele came into this week as the favourite, not only because of his gold medal in Tokyo, but also the fact that he has won two major titles this year – including at The Open Championship at Royal Troon.
Schauffele produced a flawless final round to win The Open, so it is no surprise to see him right near the top of the leaderboard in France after the opening round. But he has now issued an ominous message to many of his rivals.
Xander Schauffele makes bold claim after opening round at the Olympics
Speaking in his press conference after his first round, Schauffele was asked whether he had simply picked up where he left off in South Ayrshire.
“No, not really. Chip-in on one was pretty lucky. Skanked an iron out to the right. Then skanked another iron on two way right to the pin, was able to get up-and-down and pulled a drive on three. So it wasn’t sort of the dream, stripy start that you envision as a golfer. But I’m happy to sort of ride the ship in and get away with what could have been worse,” he said.
“No, I missed a few putts coming in. But it’s Thursday. I’m not really sweating it too much,” he added, when asked whether that was the best score he could have produced on day one.
The best in the world right now
It appeared to be such an important hurdle for Schauffele to clear when he won the PGA Championship at Valhalla earlier this year. It was clear for some time that he had the talent to win one of golf’s biggest prizes, but that is obviously not enough on its own.
Schauffele has now proved that he can win the majors, and is arguably the best player on the planet right now – which seems incredible to say given the year Scheffler has had. Schauffele has now been tipped to win as many as six majors.
So if he does not believe that he produced his best stuff with a six under par round, then we simply have to believe him – and look forward to what is to come over the next three days.
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