Xander Schauffele leads the PGA Championship. But can he finish the job?

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — This didn’t change your mind at all, did it? You knew Xander Schauffele would be here. You knew he’d play well in Round 1 of the PGA Championship. Because when you’re considering a golf-playing robot, with no difference in his mind between Thursday and Sunday, there’s zero doubt of seeing him right in the mix at a major.

This is why Schauffele deserves your respect, why he’s been the second-best golfer in the world on paper. Schauffele does not have bad weeks. He hasn’t finished outside the top 25 since February. He hasn’t been outside the top 20 in a major since April 2022. The only person with more top-10s than Schauffele (8) is world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler (9). And Thursday at Valhalla, Schauffele shot a course-record 62 to remind everyone of what Schauffele really is: A great golfer.

Yet none of it means a thing to you, does it?

It won’t unless he conquers on Sunday. No matter how many times you’re told how great Schauffele is, how consistent he is or how many times he’s finished toward the top of the FedEx Cup standings, you won’t treat him like one of the best golfers of his era until you see him on the biggest stages, staring down his peers in a final round and holding on for a win.

And it will only get messier this week. So as Schauffele was asked to talk about his epic round, he said the generic statements one does from a good day and took a big sigh.

“It’s just Thursday,” he said, almost as if to himself.

Xander Schauffele is on 🔥🔥🔥

And it's a tap in for the 3-shot lead!pic.twitter.com/gvivxfLwS7

— PGA Championship (@PGAChampionship) May 16, 2024

See, for so long, this was more of a critique of Schauffele than a damning defect. He was never a choker, per se. He just wasn’t one of those guys who went and grabbed it. He’s what some might label part of the current era of “data golfers.”

They play smart. They play efficiently. Their golf might not be exciting to watch, but they’ll always make the right choice to reduce damage and keep their floor high. To them, Thursday is no different than Sunday. Words like “clutch” and “pressure” aren’t real. And as Schauffele racked up impressive but simultaneously disappointing finishes, he didn’t really lose opportunities. He just didn’t win them.

But among the most dangerous things in sports is when your critique becomes your entire narrative, and somewhere along the back nine last week at the Wells Fargo Championship in Charlotte, Schauffele’s Sunday woes became his entire narrative.

Schauffele led by four after 36 holes at the signature event at Quail Hollow. Then it was just one after three rounds. And on Sunday, paired with Rory McIlroy, he fell seven shots behind as McIlroy shot a 65 to run away with the win.

This year has just been like that. It started in February at Riviera. Schauffele was in the final group on Sunday with his friend Patrick Cantlay, and when Schauffele eagled the 11th hole he was in a four-way tie for the lead. He bogeyed the next three holes and finished fourth.

Then he entered Sunday at The Players Championship with the solo lead. Scheffler went on a run in front of him, but Schauffele still had control on the back nine. Still, Schauffele bogeyed 14 and 15 and missed a seven-foot birdie putt on 17. With one last chance to tie Scheffler on 18, he missed the green on approach.

“I think not winning makes you want to win more, as weird as that is,” Schauffele said Thursday. “For me, at least, I react to it, and I want it more and more and more, and it makes me want to work harder and harder and harder.”

Xander Schauffele has added distance with his driver this year. (Aaron Doster / USA Today)

It’s hard to talk about Schauffele and get it right. He’s only 30, and he has 12 top-10 finishes at majors. He’s won a Tour Championship and an Olympic gold medal. He holds the major record for lowest first-round scoring average, at 69.53, for players with more than 25 rounds. He’s only the fourth golfer to ever shoot a 62 at a major. The last to do it? Schauffele at the 2023 U.S. Open.

“Xander, he’s such a complete player,” playing partner Justin Thomas said. “This year he’s hitting it even further. As good as he drove it, now he’s doing the same, just 15 yards further and faster. He’s smart. I’ve always thought he has one of the best demeanors out here, which is obviously something that you can’t necessarily just change overnight. He just has no quit in him, and he’s always hanging in there and staying patient.”

But that week at Los Angeles Country Club when he shot 62? He only finished 10th. He has few peers when it comes to week-in, week-out golf, yet his seven wins feel so frustrating when compared to 14 runner-up finishes and 21 other appearances in the top 5.

The reality had to be in the back of Schauffele’s mind as he said “It’s just Thursday.” He knows he played an incredible round of golf and it will not matter without a win. There are no more impressive days. Until the first major comes, there are only wins and losses. And he knows if he enters Sunday in the lead yet again, it will be the most important and pressure-filled round of his life.

But do not feel sorry for Xander Schauffele. It means it’s another chance to finally put this to rest.

(Top photo: Patrick Smith / Getty Images)