LOUISVILLE, Ky. — That hasn’t changed your mind at all, has it? You knew Xander Schauffele would be there. You knew he would play well in the first round of the PGA Championship. Because when you’re a golf-playing robot, when there’s no difference in your mind between Thursday and Sunday, there’s no doubt you’ll be in the mix at a major tournament.
This is why Schauffele deserves your respect, why he is the second best golfer in the world on paper. Schauffele doesn’t have bad weeks. He hasn’t finished outside the top 25 since February. He has not been outside the top 20 in a major tournament since April 2022. The only person with more top-10s than Schauffele (8) is world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler (9). And on Thursday at Valhalla, Schauffele shot a course-record 62 to remind everyone what Schauffele really is: a great golfer.
Yet none of this means anything to you, does it?
That won’t be the case until he does on Sunday. No matter how many times you are told how great Schauffele is, how consistent he is, or how many times he has finished at the top of the FedEx Cup standings, you will not treat him like one of the best golfers in the world. his era until you see him on a Sunday, on the biggest stages, staring down his peers and clinging to victory.
GO FURTHER
Xander Schauffele leads the PGA Championship. But will he be able to finish the job?
