‘Old Guy’ Xander Schauffele on the Verge of a Breakthrough

“Dang.”

That was Xander Schauffele’s playful reaction when asked in his Tuesday press conference ahead of the Valspar Championship if there’s extra weight being the top-ranked player in the field, because it’s “not very often” that happens, the reporter said.

Instead, Schauffele admitted there’s another feeling on his mind.

“Not really,” the 10-time Tour winner said. “It’s my 209th [PGA Tour] start, so I’m starting to feel like an old guy out here, to be honest. I feel that more than the actual rank in a field.”

In fact, it was only a year ago when Schauffele was the highest-ranked player in the Valspar. Except then, he was No. 3 in the world. Now? He’s No. 7.

Yet the feeling around the 32-year-old is much different now than it was 365 days ago. Last year, the Valspar was his third consecutive event since returning from a rib injury that sidelined him for over two months. And in those first two starts at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and Players Championship, he finished T40 and 72nd. Then, however, he showed some life with a T12 at Innisbrook.

“It was really confidence boosting,” Schauffele said of the 2025 Valspar. “I was definitely coming back from injury. I was told not to play Bay Hill and [the] Players as my first two coming back, just two really hard courses, two really hard cuts to make. Just two sort of punch-you-in-the-face courses after taking some time off, so definitely not a great place to gain confidence.”

After winning the PGA Championship and British Open in 2024, Schauffele struggled to recapture that form in 2025 following his injury. He recorded just three top 10s and missed the Tour Championship for the first time in his career.

In September, he became a father, and since then, his trajectory on the course has trended upward. Schauffele won October’s Baycurrent Classic in Japan and so far in 2026 has four top 25s and top 10s in six starts; though, his Tour-long made cut streak ended at the Farmers Insurance Open.

And Schauffele’s 2026 strokes-gained numbers indicate he’s closer to the player who won a pair of majors two years ago. The San Diego native is currently 12th on Tour in strokes-gained total, gaining shots in every category, while his lowest rank is around the green (80th). In 2024, he was top 10 in strokes-gained total, tee to green, off the tee and approach, with around the green his worst statistic (42nd on Tour). Last season, though, he lost strokes in putting, around the green and was 56th in strokes-gained total, as his only rank inside the top 20 was in approach (12th).

So what was the hardest part of coming back from injury?

“Probably my brain,” he said. “Yeah. Besides the actual rib itself or that sort of intercostal area, my brain. You have doubts and certain things creep in, and you definitely take good health for granted when you have it, when you’re kind of running around as a kid. So now that I’m old and dusty, things kind of come at you fast. I think it took me a little while to get my feet under me and sort of get that confidence back to compete.”

Now, Schauffele appears on the verge of a breakthrough, fresh off a third-place finish at the Players Championship.

“I felt pretty much unstoppable the first two rounds and then I had a weird Saturday [shooting 74],” he said. “Then was having a weird Sunday for most of the day and then was able to sort of salvage a good finish there with the last four holes [carding a final-round 69].”

Maybe Schauffele rides that momentum at Innisbrook to his first full-field win since the 2024 British Open. And if that indeed happens, he’ll enter the winner’s circle not having battled the expectations of being the Valspar’s highest-ranked player, but as the “old guy.”

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as ‘Old Guy’ Xander Schauffele on the Verge of a Breakthrough.

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