Xander Schauffele suprised with where game is…
Xander Schauffele, on paper at least, is a bit of an unknown.
He certified for the Ryder Cup based on factors, but last 12 months carried his complete. A rib injury pressured him to miss two months this 12 months.
Then, he didn’t qualify for the Tour Championship for the first time. And getting into the weekend at Bethpage, he hasn’t golfed in a event since the center of August — taking time off as his spouse, Maya, gave beginning to their first youngster and not attending Team USA’s tuneup in Napa two weeks in the past that everybody else besides for Bryson DeChambeau (LIV Golf ban) participated in.
But amid a difficult 12 months of golf, Schauffele, truly, has shocked himself with how nicely he has performed while ramping back up — which would offer a increase to Team USA.
“I feel like after these two days, surprisingly playing kind of nice,” Schauffele said Tuesday. “I know, I surprised myself when I came out.”
Keegan Bradley and his assistant captains checked in on Schauffele during his break as he supported his spouse and their son, Victor. He took three weeks off after the BMW Championship and began getting into a rhythm around two weeks before arriving at Bethpage for his third Ryder Cup.
“I miss him a bunch,” Schauffele said of Victor. “I had to sort of rip the Band-Aid when I was leaving the house, just kiss him on the forehead and walk out before I started staring at him.”
Team USA’s Xander Schauffele on the placing inexperienced during a follow. IMAGN IMAGES via GWN
Schauffele tasted a Ryder Cup win as a rookie at Whistling Straits in 2021. And this time, given his struggles on the course, another Team USA victory would help Schauffele “forget a lot about what happened in 2025,” he said.
Harris English, Russell Henley, Collin Morikawa and Scottie Scheffler shaped one Tuesday follow group for Team USA. DeChambeau, Ben Griffin, Justin Thomas and Cameron Young paired together in another. Sam Burns, Patrick Cantlay, J.J. Spaun and Schauffele have been the third group.
For Team Europe, Tommy Fleetwood, Shane Lowry, Rory McIlroy and Justin Rose have been the first group. Rasmus Hojgaard, Viktor Hovland, Robert MacIntyre and Sepp Straka have been together. And Ludvig Aberg, Matt Fitzpatrick, Tyrrell Hatton and Jon Rahm shaped the ultimate assortment of golfers.
Luke Donald is aware of NBA legend Michael Jordan will possible don Team USA apparel this weekend and possible gained’t dish out any advice to him this time, but that doesn’t imply he hasn’t influenced Donald — and by extension the Team Europe group he’s captaining again — beforehand.
When Donald neared the end of his collegiate profession at Northwestern in the early 2000s, he performed golf with him in Chicago. They’ve remained mates since and reside close to each other in Florida. And as Donald watched the “Last Dance” documentary in 2020, he noticed that Jordan “was never going to do anything he didn’t ask his teammates to do” while also studying about the significance of a staff setting from Jordan.
“You can be a team of champions but not a championship team,” Donald said. “You always need the people around you. You’re always stronger being a collective. I think that’s something that I certainly took from him and I’ve tried to implant on my teams the last two times, that we’re always stronger together. Those are strong values that we try and live up to.”
Bradley (No. 13) will grow to be the first golfer to captain a Ryder Cup staff while ranked inside the top 20, according to Elias Sports Bureau.
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