Xander Schauffele ‘digs deep’ at Arnold Palmer, Reveals post-PLAYERS schedule

Xander Schauffele’s second round at the Arnold Palmer Invitational was much better than his first, although he still had more than a few complications. The World No. 3 managed to get his score down to 4-over through 36 hole, making the cut on the number.

After his second-round performance, Schauffele assessed his game and did not hide the effort he had to make to improve from one day to the next. His back-to-back double bogeys on the 11th and 12th were examples he used to highlight the challenges he is facing in his return from a two-month injury layoff.

“I try really hard to not quit,” he said. “Even today going double, double sitting in a really nice spot, it was an easy time to get frustrated. But I said earlier in the week I’m going to have to go to a special place to play decent golf, and I had to dig deep.”

“So it was good practice on that front. Austin and I are proud of our cut streak, no doubt. Is it what we think about? No. But usually when you focus on winning you make a lot of cuts and end up somewhere in between.”

Schauffele reached the 11th hole with three birdies and no bogeys on his card. However, his troubles began when he sent his second shot into the water and then 2-putted for double bogey. One hole later, the complications continued as he had no good shots around the green and also 2-putted for double bogey.

The 31-year-old rallied like a champion, carding three birdies and a bogey in his final six holes, but the damage was done and he finished the day at 1-under (4-over for 36 holes).

It was his 58th consecutive cut made on the PGA Tour. That is the longest active streak and the longest since Tiger Woods’ record of 142 consecutive cuts.

Schauffele also discussed his future plans on the course. In this regard, he said that his expectations are subject to day-to-day as he needs to evaluate how his body responds to the return to competition.

“We’ll see,” he said. “I’m really week-to-week. I just signed up for the PLAYERS last night, or today, I guess. Today? This morning. Just kind of seeing how I’m feeling.”

“My plan was to play Valspar. If three weeks in a row is too much just off the get-go, then maybe I skip Valspar and play Valero to try and get ready for Augusta.”

The two-time major champion said he feels good physically while working to regain his confidence mentally.

The Arnold Palmer Invitational is Xander Schauffele’s first tournament since recovering from a rib injury that kept him out of competitive golf for eight weeks.

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