Xander Schauffele had fairly a celebration after his PGA Championship win final month.
However fortunately for him, his hangover didn’t linger into this week’s Memorial Match, the place he carded a clear 4-under 68 throughout Thursday’s opening spherical.
“I’m proud of how I performed, with how I caught in there, and actually blissful my brief recreation bailed me out on a day that might have been rather a lot worse,” Schauffele mentioned.
“I do know I would like to scrub up a few of that longer stuff. This course is de facto exhausting, and the wind is meant to blow actually exhausting tomorrow, much more than at this time, so I do know I would like to scrub it up.”
Schauffele made zero bogeys on Thursday, because of his putter. He gained almost 4 strokes on the greens, rating first of the 73 gamers within the subject in the course of the first spherical. He made quite a few par saves, particularly on the fifth, eighth, and ninth holes, to maintain a clear card on the entrance 9.
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He then stored it rolling on the again, opening the closing facet with a 16-foot par save on the tenth.
“If I didn’t make among the putts I wanted at this time, it will have been a 2-over or in all probability worse,” Schauffele mentioned.
“I noticed the strains type of shortly, even from the get-go. I used to be leaving putts within the coronary heart brief. So, as quickly as I received the pace down, I used to be rolling.”
Schauffele didn’t have his finest stuff from tee to inexperienced, however he has not performed competitively in three weeks. But, he did reveal that he started training once more on the Thursday after the PGA Championship—the identical day because the opening spherical of the Charles Schwab Problem.
“I began training, imagine it or not—I do know you noticed some bizarre photographs at this time, however I used to be training—I began training on Thursday after I received dwelling,” Schauffele mentioned.
“I used to be hungover on Monday, I had media on Tuesday and Wednesday, after which I began {golfing} on Thursday.”
Not less than that hangover has subsided now, or else Schauffele wouldn’t have seen his strains as clearly as he did in the course of the opening spherical. However by some means, because of his scorching putter, Schauffele sits two photographs behind chief Adam Hadwin and one again of Scottie Scheffler, who sits in solo second.
Jack Milko is a golf workers author for SB Nation’s Enjoying By means of. You should definitely take a look at @_PlayingThrough for extra golf protection. You may comply with him on Twitter @jack_milko as nicely.
