Schauffele: “Got My Ass Kicked”.

8 months ago by Comments Off on Schauffele: “Got My Ass Kicked”.

Xander Schauffele could not have described it better declaring with a smile on his face: “Got my ass kicked”.

This after the current World No. 3 posted a shock five-over-par 77 on the opening day of the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill in Orlando.

The now rib-injury free Schauffele is returning to competition in a first event since the season-opening The Sentry in Hawaii.

However the former Olympic Games Gold medalist from 2020 surely was not expecting a round that included just birdie at his 16th hole, coming after six earlier bogeys includind five in succession the sixth hole.

The effort has Schauffele sharing 52nd place in the elite $20m 72-player field.

“Yeah, it was, you know, got my ass kicked (smiling) yeah, it’s a tough place to come back to, not going to lie”, he said after his round.

“Palm Springs would have been nice, something like that, that would have been a little bit easier, miss a couple, get a way with it.

“I knew a bit of a masochist I guess. I knew I was going to come in on short notice to what is sort of like a major championship setup around the greens, and with the greens being crusty, I really felt it there more than anything else”.

Rusty?  Yes, and looking at his stats with Schauffele hitting hitting just half of the 14 fairways, even those he was ranked third after round in the ‘Longest Drive’ category producing one drive of 362-yards.

“Yeah, just not really seeing lines, not playing enough break, not giving enough respect to certain holes”, he said.

“Tried hard to prepare, but it really — as the wind laid down I was hitting some nice shots and, you know, that’s what I was more used to”.

And asked how he feels physically, he responded: “Great”.

You know what they say Xander about golf?  Two rounds are never the same.

Good luck in round two.

 



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