Xander Schauffele’s Caddie Shares Why BMW Championship Venue Fits his Player – Exclusive originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
The second leg of the FedEx Cup Playoffs kicks off this week just outside of Baltimore, Maryland at Caves Valley Golf Club for the BMW Championship. This event tends to get to a variety of venues throughout Chicago historically as well as heading both west (Castle Pines in 2024) and east (Baltimore area this year) in recent years.
Xander Schauffele enters the BMW Championship at 43rd in the FedEx Cup standings, well outside the top 30 who would qualify for next week’s playoff finale at the Tour Championship. The nine-time PGA Tour winner has yet to miss that prestigious event in his previous eight years on the PGA Tour — in fact, he has yet to finish a FedEx Cup Playoffs outside the top 15 in the final standings. The 31-year-old would need a solo 21st finish or better at the BMW to punch his ticket to East Lake.
As we prepare for this week’s event on a course that’s not a regular staple on our televisions, it’s helpful to look back at some insight that Schauffele’s longtime caddie Austin Kaiser shared from the 2021 event and how his player matches up with this scenic course.
“It’s a golf course that rewards good driving and being in the best spots off the tee, and that’s something he does really well,” Kaiser told Athlon of Schauffele. “He’s comfortable off these tee boxes with the sightlines and navigating those big fairway bunkers, so that’s important.”
Schauffele’s ranked 10th in Shots Gained: Approach to Green this season on tour, and with how much of a birdie fest 2021 was (Patrick Cantlay won at 27-under), even with this year’s course playing as a par 70 instead of a par 72, strong iron play would still seem to be critical to set up gettable scoring opportunities.
“These are pretty big greens, but you’ve still got to hit small targets out there, and I think his iron play can really help him with scoring around here and give him a lot of good looks at birdie,” Kaiser said.
Schauffele was tied for seventh after his opening round 5-under 67 in 2021 and finished tied for 49th place.
Related: Xander Schauffele Employs Untraditional Strategy for FedEx St. Jude Championship’s Course
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Aug 13, 2025, where it first appeared.
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