{"id":435709,"date":"2025-07-09T18:57:06","date_gmt":"2025-07-09T18:57:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/?p=435709"},"modified":"2025-07-09T18:57:06","modified_gmt":"2025-07-09T18:57:06","slug":"xander-schauffele-mental-struggles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/xander-schauffele-mental-struggles\/","title":{"rendered":"Xander Schauffele In A Fight Against Himself"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last PGA Tour season, the world renowned golfer in Xander Schauffele was one of the most talented within the Tour. Earning the title as a defending PGA Tour<\/a> champion, the ceiling was set extremely high and deservingly so. Yet, this 2025 season has been a turnaround performance throughout so far. After being set out due to a rib injury, Schauffele has been trying to battle his way back into contender status. With the Genesis Scottish Open to take place Thursday, the nine time Tour winner in Schauffele will be looking to turn things around.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Mental Or Physical Setback?\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The pro since 2015 has had his fair share of experience with 195 events played in his career. That fact just hasn\u2019t been enough to get the star over the current hurdle in his way. From downplaying previous injuries to his own personal play, it\u2019s been a rough Tour season.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cProbably downplayed [the injury] in my own mind,\u201d Schauffele said.<\/a> \u201cYeah, you\u2019ll be fine, you\u2019ve been playing great golf. You just came off the best year of your career. And I\u2019ve backed it up currently with the worst year of my career. It\u2019s been a hot one. Like I said, I\u2019m trying to do the best I can.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
Jun 20, 2025; Cromwell, Connecticut, USA; Xander Schauffele plays a shot from a bunker on the ninth hole during the second round of the Travelers Championship golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It has been a battle of trying to mimic the impressive 2024 play that Schauffele put together. Despite having the unlucky season of injury, the flashes of golf when healthy are still lacking. Schauffele ranks 28th in Strokes Gained at (1.01), also he ranks 78th off the tee at (0.17). While also including a ranking<\/a> at eighth in approach and 106th in putting. To put it into a comparison to last season, Schauffele ranked second, fifth, second and fifth in those listings.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What Will It Take?\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The very thought of what Schauffele needs to succeed is easy to speculate on, but truly only something he knows. Something he has been quite vulnerable on in his recent talks with the media, ahead of his next appearance.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTrying to get into some sort of contention to try and feel something again, other than upset,\u201d Schauffele said. \u201cI think I\u2019ve just been angry-ish. That\u2019s like been the biggest emotion of this is frustrating, versus why we love playing to be in contention and kind of see what you can do. But you know, that part\u2019s been humbling. So you know, it\u2019s a battle, and I\u2019m going to try and win it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Emotions of anger have been broadcasted by some of the best this season, yet the challenge of not letting it affect your golf is front and center. The grind back to the limelight has pumped fuel in Schauffele, and taught the importance of mental stability throughout.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSmall victories is where I\u2019m battling,\u201d Schauffele said.<\/a> \u201cIf I can play 72 holes without fiddling with my golf swing this week, that would be a massive win, and wherever I finish, I finish. That would be a good place for me to get to before I play next week.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

All eyes will be on the veteran and company, while he searches for new life and victory.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Main Photo Credit: \u00a9 Bill Streicher-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last PGA Tour season, the world renowned golfer in Xander Schauffele was one of the most talented within the Tour. Earning the title as a defending PGA Tour champion, the ceiling was set extremely high and deservingly so. Yet, this 2025 season has been a turnaround performance throughout so far. After being set out due […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5427,"featured_media":435710,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[15,19],"tags":[137],"class_list":["post-435709","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-golf","category-pga","tag-xander-schauffele"],"modified_by":"Orlando Fuller","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435709","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5427"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=435709"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435709\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":435712,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435709\/revisions\/435712"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/435710"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=435709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=435709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=435709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}