There is no doubting the fact that Xander Schauffele is one of the very best players in the world.
Schauffele is currently siting at No.3 in the World Rankings, behind only Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy on the list.
However, he has fallen further adrift of those two players after missing around two months of action earlier this season due to an acute intercostal strain that he suffered.
As a result of that problem, Schauffele has admitted to feeling anxious about certain players overtaking him.
The thing is, as long as the 31-year-old is patient, he will almost certainly start winning again.
Schauffele is clearly rusty right now. He was ranked 1st in scrambling last season but is way down in 160th this year.
Last season he was ranked 10th in strokes gained off the tee whilst this year he is sitting in 163rd spot.
Once he rediscovers his best form in those two specific departments, he will strongly contend to win again.
Xander Schauffele praises LIV stars Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau
Schauffele took part in a British Open media day on Tuesday, ahead of his defence of the Claret Jug at Royal Portrush in July.
The Californian, who has two major championships to his name, will be desperate to end the season with another one of golf’s premier titles safely tucked away.
He was asked about McIlroy’s recent success at The Masters, and he highlighted how the Northern Irishman is definitely someone he looks up to.
However, he also praised Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau for their extraordinary power off the tee:
“I think when I look at his game (McIlroy) and what he can do — I look back at my game, and he was one of the examples at that time. I used him, Brooks, Bryson; those guys were all a lot stronger than me; they hit it further than me; they did certain things way better than I did. That was one of the areas I like to where I tried to pick up some of that slack.”
Xander himself is now one of the longest players on tour, with his ball speeds when driving usually in the mid to high 180mph range.
In fact, he’s probably longer than Koepka now, although DeChambeau is still very much in a league of his own when it comes to length off the tee.
Schauffele has actually called for DeChambeau technique to be banned
The reigning Open and PGA champion is clearly in awe of DeChambeau’s power with a driver in his hand.
However, he is a fierce critic of one method that his fellow countryman uses to great effect.
Schauffele has called for DeChambeau’s ‘armlock’ putting method to be banned from the game:
“I am for banning the arm lock putters, but if everyone else is going to use it and I feel like they have a bigger advantage, I may as well do the same.”
It’s a fair point from Schauffele. It has to be said that a lot of skill has been taken out of the game with certain new techniques that have become popular over the past few years.
Whether or not the governing bodies across the world ever make a change in regards to the ‘armlock’ method remains to be seen though.
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