Xander Schauffele seeks Tiger Woods territory at Masters after rocky injury return: Validation
AUGUSTA, Ga.— The Masters this week is being billed — and rightfully so — as the Rory McIlroy-Scottie Scheffler Show.McIlroy is seeking a Masters victory to complete the elusive career Grand Slam only five other players have accomplished.And Scheffler, the defending champion, is trying to become the only player other than Jack Nicklaus to win three Masters in a four-year span.Don’t, however, sleep on Xander Schauffele.A Schauffele victory this week at Augusta National would make him the winner of three of the past four majors, dating back to last year when he won the PGA Championship and the British Open.That’s Tiger Woods territory, high ground.Schauffele’s 2025 season, though, has been interrupted by an intercostal strain and a cartilage tear.
He first felt pain in December, ignored it and made it worse to the point he had to sit out tournaments and let it heal.While he did that, he watched the likes of McIlroy [two wins this year] and Scheffler excel, which drove him nuts while helplessly resting at home.“Everything is gravy when it’s gravy,’’ Schauffele said Monday.“It was a nice wake-up call to maybe be a little more responsible when need be.
It was a reminder of how much I love to play and compete.“To be able to take a step back after winning two majors and sort of accomplishing a lot, to still feel some fire burning watching other guys playing really well is a huge thing because at some point in my life that’s not going to happen, so I’m lucky that it’s still learning.“I’ve never really dealt with injury before, so I’ve never really been sidelined.Sitting at home thinking all these thoughts, watching everyone else play golf and sort of fly by me, it’s been very motivating.
Just trying to use that to perform at a higher level.’’His results this year have not been up to his standards: a tie for 30th at the Sentry Tournament of Champions in early January before taking time off to heal ; a tie for 40th at the Arnold Pa...