What Xander Schauffele did at the Arnold Palmer Invitational on his return to PGA Tour action was almost irrelevant, with the world number three’s biggest hope for the week surely being getting through the tournament unscathed.
Xander Schauffele made his return to tournament action at Bay Hill having not featured on the PGA Tour since the season’s curtain-raiser back at The Sentry. The two-time major champion had been dealing with a rib injury which forced him to remain on the sidelines for a number of weeks.
Few would have expected Schauffele to contend at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. His injury seemingly forced the 31-year-old to rest up for some time. And Schauffele himself admitted to having concerns that he may have to withdraw if he had a problem hitting shots out of the rough during the practice rounds.
Thankfully, Schauffele was able to complete 72 holes. He finished tied for 40th on four over par for the week – saving his best round for Sunday as he posted a 69 to move inside the top 50.
Xander Schauffele’s Masters hopes assessed after his performance at the Arnold Palmer Invitational
Obviously, the Masters is emerging onto the horizon at a rapid rate now. And Schauffele will be hoping that he can continue to shake off the rustiness over the next few weeks to get himself ready for Augusta National.
However, speaking on the Golf Channel Podcast, Ryan Lavner admitted that he does not see Schauffele having the opportunity to get himself where he needs to be for the first major of the year.
“I can’t think of a harder golf course – maybe Torrey Pines – to try and come back from an injury than doing so at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. But the rough is going to be thick, it’s 7,800 yards, yeah your body’s not going to be as warm, it was obviously 85 degrees and sunny and humid today in Orlando, that helps the body as well,” he said.
“But going out, making the cut – which has now extended his PGA Tour-leading 58th straight event with a made cut for Xander Schauffele – making the cut seemed pretty impressive, especially considering how difficult, how cold it was on Thursday, the scoring average in the opening round as well, to be able to play all four rounds I thought was a huge boost. I can tell, just by reading Xander Schauffele, and you could probably tell obviously even better seeing him in person, he’s not going to get down over the fact that yeah, he’s not likely to have his game in a spot where he wants it for the Masters. There’s quite frankly just not enough time.
“He said obviously he’s going to play next week at the Players Championship. He’s debating whether to sign up for the Valspar Championship or the Valero Texas Open which is the week ahead of the Masters. If this was last summer, Xander Schauffele would have zero concern about his major readiness or his preparation. That’s just not going to be the case this time around. I still think for the rest of the summer, for the rest of the late spring, he’ll be fine. But it does seem that if we’re looking at major contenders for the Masters, I probably would not put him in my top five any longer, just because I don’t think that he has the time or will be able to muster the necessary reps in order to get game ready.”
How Xander Schauffele has performed at the Masters during his career
There are few major championship records in the current game more impressive than Schauffele’s. Of course, he got across the line on two occasions last year. But before 2024, it is probably fair to say that his most impressive records had actually come in the Masters and the US Open.
His US Open run is ridiculous, with Schauffele finishing in the top 10 on seven out of eight starts. But his record at Augusta National is not significantly worse with four top 10s in seven appearances.
The highlight came in 2019 when he finished second to a certain Tiger Woods. But he has had three more top 10s since then. And given how important course knowledge is around Augusta National, perhaps it should not come as a surprise if Schauffele does indeed completely surpass expectations.
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