Xander Schauffele returned from injury at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and despite finishing down in a tie for 40th, he was in a positive frame of mind.
Schauffele managed to keep his cut streak alive by sneaking into the weekend and then produced an excellent final round of three under par to finish in a more respectable position.
The world number two knew that playing his first tournament since injury at Bay Hill would be tricky and it proved to be the case.
However, after declaring for The Players next week, Schauffele has admitted that he’s taking some big positives and crucially, isn’t in pain.
Xander Schauffele gives new injury update after his final round at the Arnold Palmer
Speaking to the media after his final round of three under left him in good spirits for The Players, Schauffele admitted it was a huge relief to simply get through the weekend.
“That was the biggest thing. That’s probably the biggest win of the week,” Schauffele admitted. “Not being able to play enough golf coming in here, was rolling the dice a little bit. All scans were clean, but super happy with how I feel. Definitely, with the added golf didn’t feel any strain or any worse, so that’s a big bonus.”
Schauffele will now be looking to the The Players to improve further as the big events come thick and fast for the world number two.
But for Schauffele, it was all about getting as many rounds in as possible.
“Austin (Schauffele’s caddie) was telling me this is probably the hardest place you can come back to out of any tournament, all year round, so happy to make the cut and get four rounds of golfing and feel good,” Schauffele continued.
“I’m trying to convince myself to be in a good spot mentally regardless,” Schauffele added. “I can’t sit all year long and feel sorry for myself like, oh, you know, I’m just rusty, I haven’t played. That stuff doesn’t matter in any sport, so it is what it is, and I’m going to have to sort of pick up the pace.”
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Why Xander Schauffele found Bay Hill so tough on his return to golf
With the winds blowing and the greens getting firm, doing well at Bay Hill was hard for everyone this week.
For someone like Schauffele, rusty from not playing and also returning from injury, the task was arguably even harder.
Indeed, Schauffele admitted after round three that Bay Hill remains one of the toughest courses around.
“There’s a few shots where you don’t get those any other time of the year,” Schauffele admitted.
“You know, hitting over a huge body of water on six, I don’t care where the wind is that’s kind of scary. 17 is kind of scary, 18 is kind of scary. You know, putting on these greens, even from three feet is kind of scary.”
Schauffele will hope for more at The Players but with TPC Sawgrass also a tough course to navigate, it could be more of the same before he’s back to his best.
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