GOLF: In 10th season, Xander Schauffele feeling like 'old guy' on tour

Xander Schauffele is the betting favorite at the Valspar Championship this week, thanks largely to being the highest-ranked player in the field at No. 7 in the world.

It’s not often that Schauffele plays in a tournament without the likes of Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, and Tommy Fleetwood, but the 32-year-old said Tuesday that he no longer feels the weight of being a favorite on tour.

“It’s my 209th career start, so I’m starting to feel like an old guy out here, to be honest,” Schauffele told reporters at Innisbrook Resort in Palm Harbor, Florida. “I feel that more than the actual rank in a field. Once the gun goes off and everyone tees off, it’s sort of anyone’s game out here.”

Now in his 10th full season on the PGA Tour, Schauffele has become a familiar face. In 2024, he combined his consistency with his first two major titles at the PGA and Open Championships.

The tour itself has also changed significantly since Schauffele won the Tour Championship and Rookie of the Year in 2017. New CEO Brian Rolapp is reimagining the tour’s schedule and has emphasized moving away from the limited-field, no-cut formats that currently define the “signature events.”

A younger Schauffele may have speculated on how these changes would affect the sport or elite players like himself. On Tuesday, he chose to defer.

“As I said, this is my 209th event. As I get older, I’m realizing there’s a lot more that goes into a tournament than I thought 200 events ago,” he said. “When you want to change things and make everyone happy while creating a structure meant to last 50-plus years, I wouldn’t want that job. He’s asked us to be patient, and we appreciate that he’s communicating well and keeping things in front of us. Other than that, no—I’m not going to speculate. I did that for too many years.”

Schauffele also reflected on watching the 2004 Players Championship while in the physio room at TPC Sawgrass last week. Adam Scott of Australia won that title over players who now compete on the PGA Tour Champions.

“I was like, holy smokes, he’s been at it for a while,” Schauffele said. “It’s impressive that he’s still out here at 45 with 190 ball speed. There are a lot fewer guys like that now. When I first came on tour, there were more older 30-year-olds and younger 40-year-olds. The tour is getting younger, which is great for golf, but I’m realizing I’m in that sort of weird spot. I need to stay healthy, stay strong, and keep competing.”

Schauffele is off to a strong start this year, tying for seventh at the Genesis Invitational and finishing third at The Players. That’s a welcome improvement over his slow 2025 season, when he missed two months due to an intercostal/rib injury, finished last at The Players, and didn’t win until October.

Asked what was hardest to regain after his injury, Schauffele said, “Besides the rib itself, it was my brain. You have doubts, certain things creep in, and you take good health for granted when you have it. Now that I’m older, things come at you fast. It took me a while to get my feet under me and regain the confidence to compete.”

Schauffele will look to continue his momentum this week as he seeks another strong showing at the Valspar Championship.

-Field Level Media/Reuters