ORLANDO — Xander Schauffele put himself through a major test Tuesday after he hit his first shot at Bay Hill Club in preparation for this week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Having been told by the doctors early on he would really feel his injured rib if he attempted to hit a wedge out of thick rough, Schauffele dropped a ball in the rough – after hitting it in the fairway – and “took a whack” at it.
“I said, if it doesn’t go well, I’m going to get back in my car and drive back to Jupiter,” Schauffele said.
Schauffele was in high spirits Wednesday after passing that test and several others, including playing a Par-3 in Jupiter with Justin Thomas and TGL on Monday.
While it’s never a bad day sitting on the couch with his French bulldog, Chewie, Schauffele would have rather been playing the PGA Tour’s West Coast Swing.
“Sitting at home on the West Coast, that sucked for me,” said Schauffele, who was born in San Diego. “One of my dreams is to play Torrey South earlier in the year with long rough, cold, South only. And so to miss Torrey twice really, really sucked.”
Schauffele’s injury – diagnosed as a strained intercostal with a small cartilage tear – came at the end of a year in which he played golf better than anyone in the world who was not named Scottie Scheffler.
Schauffele was No. 2 in the world, behind Scheffler, from July until Monday, when he was overtaken by Rory McIlroy. Schauffele’s last round on the PGA Tour was Jan. 5.
The nine-time tour winner had the best year of his career, winning his first two majors – the PGA Championship and British Open – and finishing runner-up three times, including The Players Championship.
Christmas not very joyous for Xander Schauffele, Scottie Scheffler
But then came the Christmas season, which not very joyous for either of the top two golfers in the world at that time.
A wine glass shattered in Scheffler’s right hand as he was cutting pasta dough into pieces of ravioli. Surgery was required to remove shards of glass. He missed a month, returning the first week of February at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
Schauffele ignored the pain in his rib that started just before Christmas. He attempted to play Sentry and his first TGL match at SoFi Center in early January before shutting it down.
“It was a kind of perfect storm,” Schauffele said. “My trainer had to renew his visa. I was left on my own and apparently I’m still a toddler.
“I kept training and golfing and training and golfing, and I’m used to having someone either hold my hand or do something as simple as soft tissue. I didn’t get any help, and I think that is sort of what put my back against the wall.”
Next thing he knows, he’s sitting around for about six weeks, watching and waiting.
At least Chewie was happy.
Schauffele hit drivers in mid-January before the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines and then played nine holes. It got worse.
He was told he could make it worse.
Time to shut it down.
“That was an easy decision for me to make, thinking of long-term goals,” he said.
One of which is finally reaching the coveted No. 1 spot, no matter how challenging considering Scheffler has held it for 127 weeks.
A series of CT scans, ultrasounds and MRIs, and those course tests in Jupiter, have Schauffele confident he’s not rushing back from the injury.
Schauffele helped New York Golf Club secure a playoff spot Monday in just his second TGL appearance before arriving at Bay Hill.
And he’s making his return on one of the toughest courses on tour, and one which he says “takes a lot more than it gives.”
Xander Schauffele has done well at Arnold Palmer
Schauffele has played the Arnold Palmer three times with two top 25s
“I wouldn’t call it like the dream place to come back to on short reps,” he said. “I’m going to have to go to a special place mentally.”
But this week, it’s not the result that will matter most.
“I’m not really too concerned right now, to be honest,” he said. “I feel like I’ve been pretty conservative with everything. Hopefully that pays off.
“If things go south, I won’t be scared to back off, just because you know what’s down the road is more important.”
Tom D’Angelo is a senior sports columnist and reporter for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at [email protected].
Arnold Palmer Invitational
Thursday-Sunday, Bay Hill, Orlando
TV: Thursday, 2 p.m., GOLF; Friday, 2 p.m., GOLF; Saturday and Sunday, 12:30 p.m., GOLF, 2:30 p.m., NBC
Defending champ: Scottie Scheffler
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: PGA Tour: Xander Schauffele returning from rib injury at Arnold Palmer
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