Xander Schauffele reveals why he apologized to Scottie Scheffler at the PGA Championship

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Xander Schauffele felt like he had to say sorry to Scottie Scheffler at the PGA Championship.

Schauffele and Scheffler are fierce competitors on the golf course, but very good friends off it.

The 28-year-old has gone from strength to strength over the past month or so, whilst his fellow countryman has struggled to reproduce the form he showed last season.

Schauffele admitted it was hard watching Scheffler dominate whilst he slowly recovered from his injury.

The PGA champion’s current form will surely inspire the winner of the Wanamaker Trophy in 2024 to get back to his very best.

When he’s on his best form, Schauffele is more than good enough to compete with Scheffler.

The good relationship they share definitely helps drive one another on.

However, back at the PGA Championship, the nine-time PGA Tour winner felt the need to apologize to his friend.

Xander Schauffele reveals why he apologized to Scottie Scheffler

Schauffele and Scheffler played alongside one another during the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow earlier this month.

Scheffler went on to win his third major title while Schauffele ended up in a tie for 28th.

The Californian will be well aware that he’s not in the same league as the world number one right now.

And it seems like he felt the need to apologise to him at Quail Hollow two weeks ago.

It was Schauffele who told the world’s press that Scheffler’s driver was deemed to be non-conforming during the PGA Championship.

And the reigning Open champion was asked whether the outcomes of driver testing should be leaked to the media.

He said, “It was sort of like the PGA. I mean, I was — someone wrote about Scottie — like, I was the one who leaked it, basically, about Scott’s, and he told me, and it was more of, like, a credit to how good he was, you know? And I didn’t realize — like I said, I apologized. I was like, Sorry, dude. Like, I wasn’t trying to have that be a question in your media after you just won another major.

“It was more about, like, you know, guy just used his backup and absolutely rinsed the field again, so it was more of like that kind of thing.“

It was then put to Schauffele that Scheffler actually explained the situation with driver testing really well.

And the American responded, “Okay. I didn’t see it, but that sounds like Scott. Like I said, yeah, guys, you have a driver you like and that’s what you use. It sucks to try and switch. But we do also — part of our job is to have a backup and it is to test it, so…“

Schauffele needs to get back challenging Scheffler and McIlroy again

Last season, Scheffler, McIlroy and Schauffele were the standout players on the PGA Tour.

Here’s how their respective seasons compared:

The prize money figures are excluding the FedEx Cup bonus payments.

Obviously the amount of wins they all clocked up is remarkably impressive. However, the standout thing for me is the consistency that they all showed.

Between them, they were only outside the top 25 eight times all season long in 2024.

Now Schauffele will be hoping to rediscover his best form in order to put Scheffler and McIlroy under some real pressure again.