After injury, Xander Schauffele will become 'more dangerous' at The Masters

Even Xander Schauffele’s press conference ahead of the 2025 Masters was scheduled for Monday, rather than the prime time Tuesday slot that top stars usually have, reflecting Schauffele’s “strange” position in golf’s current frame of reference.

But behind the somewhat quiet reception, Schauffele felt content. He measured his worth not by the spotlight, but by the privilege of returning to the passion that injury had once deprived him of.

In 2024, Schauffele was a machine: three runner-up finishes, 15 top-10 finishes in just 22 tournaments, and the most points for the U.S. Presidents Cup. But what helped him escape the shadow of the "King of Runners-up" was winning two majors in just two months, the PGA Championship at Valhalla and The Open at Royal Troon.

These titles not only shattered doubts about his ability to finish the season at a high position, but also helped Schauffele truly write his own story - becoming the golfer he was once expected to be.

Then, that ascension was abruptly halted by an injury in December—an intercostal muscle strain and torn meniscus—that was persistent and extremely troublesome. Schauffele attempted to return to play at the 2025 season opener at Sentry and a TGL event, but the pain continued to torment him. Schauffele was forced to miss eight weeks of competition, and the time off the court left him struggling with patience.

Schauffele won the 2024 PGA Championship and The Open 2024 in 2 months.

Back in March at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and The Players Championship, Schauffele had yet to find his form. It wasn’t until the Valspar Championship that he really shined with a final-round 66, opening up great expectations heading into The Masters. However, when the injury struck at a time when Schauffele was at the peak of his fitness and career, he couldn’t avoid the question at the Augusta press conference: Do you feel unlucky that the injury has stalled that momentum?

“No, I don’t feel unlucky. I feel… stupid,” Schauffele replied. “I feel a little unprofessional, a little irresponsible, and sad. Then I get motivated to come back. Then I get sad again. Then I get motivated again.”

"I'm not sure if I could call it a 'getting over the loss' process, but I did get over it. As I said, I always believed I would come back, I just didn't know exactly when. It felt like a kid losing a favorite toy. I just wanted to go out there, play golf and compete at a high level. But that was suddenly taken away. Luckily, I had a wife and family who were always there to support me during my time off," the American golfer confided.

Schauffele says that, when viewed in its entirety, his injury story is not a disaster. He even teases himself that the break made him realize that he was “emotionally unstable.” It was the quiet that forced him to confront the psychological toll that he had often hidden by playing nonstop.

Having never had a long layoff, Schauffele admits that he took his health for granted. It was a powerful lesson for him, reminding him that peak athleticism is far more fragile than one might imagine, and that many athletes only realize this when it’s too late.

“Everything is great… until it’s not. It’s been a wake-up call for me, a wake-up call for me to be more responsible,” Schauffele said. “It reminds me how much I love golf. Time flies. Some people have been on the Tour for 20 years, I’ve only been on the Tour for eight or nine years. After winning two majors and achieving so many big goals, it’s important to still have that ‘fire in your belly’ when you see other people play. Because there will come a time when that feeling will not be there anymore. So I feel very lucky to still be learning and hungry to win.”

Xander Schauffele is a famous American professional golfer, born on October 25, 1993 in San Diego, California. Schauffele started his professional career in 2015 and won a total of 12 titles, including 9 PGA Tour and 4 European Tour. Most notably, he won 2 majors in 2024 including the PGA Championship and The Open, the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Gold Medal and the 2017 Tour Championship as a rookie. Before winning 2 majors, Schauffele was known as the "King of Second Place" with many near-wins at The Open 2018, The Masters 2019 and 2021, or the US Open 2024.

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Source: https://tienphong.vn/sau-chan-thuong-xander-schauffele-se-tro-nen-nguy-hiem-hon-tai-the-masters-post1732643.tpo