Xander Schauffele must fix off-the-course issue for the first time since 2015 after Skins Game disaster

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Xander Schauffele’s PGA Tour season was one to forget, overall.

Sure, Xander Schauffele managed to win the Baycurrent Classic in October, but it’s fair to argue that his first PGA Tour victory since July 2024 merely papered over the cracks.

It’s fair to say that Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy are the two standout players in the world right now, with Tommy Fleetwood just behind them.

• Read also: The Skins Game has just shown the PGA Tour the change they urgently need to make for the 2026 season

The harsh truth of the matter is that Schauffele is nowhere near their levels right now, and his poor performance at The Skins Game on Friday was a stark reminder of just how far away he is from his best form right now.

Schauffele ended the Skins Game with zero skins, and his overall performance was undoubtedly concerning.

Sure, it was a bit of fun, and the season is pretty much finished now. However, form and intensity are not things that you can simply switch on and off like a tap.

Schauffele has admitted that his form has been poor in 2025, and he has looked like an absolute shadow of his former self almost every single time he has teed it up this season.

But what has been the main reason for Schauffele’s fall from grace over the past 10 months or so?

Xander Schauffele must address off-the-course issue after Skins Game disaster

The biggest chance Schauffele has of succeeding in 2026 may well be by making an off-the-course change for the first time in 10 years.

It’s worth noting that Schauffele sustaining a small cartilage tear and an intercostal strain right at the start of the 2025 season unquestionably set him back.

However, his biggest problem has been on the greens – the one part of his game that shouldn’t have been affected by his injury.

Schauffele has worked with his putting coach – Derek Uyeda – since his senior year at San Diego State University in 2015.

However, given his putting performances on the PGA Tour in 2025, and indeed during The Skins Game on Friday, it might just be time for a big change for him.

Schauffele has become incredibly static over the ball on the greens, lacking any kind of athleticism.

The 32-year-old American needs to make the change to become more dynamic and reactive over the golf ball.

In order to achieve this, he should consider breaking his 10-year partnership with Uyeda and linking up with McIlroy’s putting coach, Brad Faxon.

Faxon has helped McIlroy become far more ‘reactionary’ on the greens, with an emphasis being on a constant flow from reading his putt right up to the moment he strikes the ball.

The former PGA Tour player has helped McIlroy approach putting with more feel and imagination, rather than a cast-iron technical mindset.

Just look at the putting trajectories of Schauffele and McIlroy over the past three years…

Why Brad Faxon’s putting philosophy could help Xander Schauffele

Back in 2022, McIlroy opened up on the key message Faxon gives him when the American is working on his putting with him.

He said: “What we were talking about worked straight away, and I feel like I’ve become a much more consistent putter since working with Brad. If anything, it’s become almost less practice in a way. Just sort of simplified the whole thing.

“It doesn’t have to be perfect. All you’re trying to do is get the ball in the hole, and a lot of visualization, a lot of hitting putts at different speeds and getting the ball to enter on the high side, on the low side. Just be so visual with it and sort of try to put a lot more feel into it, the way I play the rest of the game.”

The word ‘vizualization’ is the key here and it could really help Schauffele out.

The two-time major champion needs to bring a certain kind of feel back to his putting routine.

More vizualizing and less trying to hone the perfect technique could get him back putting like he was during the 2024 season.

However, a switch of putting coaches for the first time in 15 years may well be required to help him do just that.