Xander Schauffele says what he really thought when he saw Justin Thomas shot 61 at the RBC Heritage just after hitting his driver out of bounds

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Xande Schauffele shot, what was for him, a fairly underwhelming round of two-under par 69 on the opening day of the RBC Heritage.

After a fairly benign day at Harbour Town Links on Hilton Head Island, Xande Schauffele finds himself a whopping eight shots off the lead at the RBC Heritage, after the red-hot Justin Thomas opened up with an incredible round of 10-under par 61.

The 31-year-old Californian has been slowly recovering from an injury, after missing around two months of the season before he returned to competitive golf at The Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando last month.

Schauffele admitted to feeling hugely motivated after spending months on the sidelines, and watching the likes of Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler win big titles.

He really struggled with an acute intercostal strain (PGA Tour website) – an injury that wreaked havoc with his ability to play and practice.

The two-time major winner is clearly still very rusty indeed, but to his credit, he still got round in two-under par on Thursday.

Eight shots back sounds like a lot, but given Xander’s ability to go low, that can all change on Friday.

At one point, it looked like he would be even further adrift of Thomas’s lead.

Xander Schauffele opens up on Justin Thomas shooting 61 at the RBC Heritage

Thomas was sensational during his first-round 61.

Justin Thomas said it’s strange being alongside new caddie Joe Greiner, when speaking to the media after his round.

Once that relationship begins to blossom, who knows what the two-time PGA Champion will be capable of achieving!

Schauffele may well have his work cut-out if he is to secure his first win since The Open Championship in July this week.

However, if his first round 69 ends up being his worst score of the week, then it could end up being a very successful tournament for Xander.

And Schauffele responded when asked to sum up his opening round of 69 at Harbour Town Links:

“Yeah, I hung in there. It’s tough when you start your day and you see a 10 and a bunch of 7s and you snap-hook one ball OB and you feel like you’re behind the world. I kind of stuck it out. My goal was to get to 4 after being 1-over. But if this is my bad round this week, I’ll take it.

“They were just playing really good golf. I think the wind was down this morning and they played amazing. Hopefully the wind is down tomorrow morning and we can do the same thing.”

He dropped to one-over par after five holes of his opening round, so the fact that he shot a 69 in the end is actually quite impressive.

With Schauffele teeing off during the morning wave on Friday, he will be looking to post a round in the mid 60’s or lower, in order to thrust himself back into contention.

Xander Schauffler’s 2024 and 2025 stats compared

The 31-year-old is a long way off the levels he showed during the 2024 season.

That’s obviously understandable, given his lengthy lay-off earlier this year.

Here’s how his numbers compare in 2025 and 2024.

As the season goes on, we can expect those stats to begin to align closer together with every week that passes.

All eyes will be on Xander Schauffele on day two of the RBC Heritage, as he looks to close the gap on first-round leader Justin Thomas.