Xander Schauffele, competing at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, felt he wouldn’t shine. Coming back from a long injury is always a tough moment, so it’s hard to expect superior performances. The American golfer was primarily focused on playing the tournament without pain and injury, and it seems he succeeded in that.
The 31-year-old looked back on his performance after shooting a 3-under 69 in the last round. Schauffele admitted that he took a bit of a risk, but he is pleased with how everything turned out.
“That was the biggest thing. That’s probably the biggest win of the week,” Schauffele said, as quoted by PGA Tour.
“Not being able to play enough golf coming in here, was rolling the dice a little bit. All scans were clean, but super happy with how I feel. Definitely, with the added golf didn’t feel any strain or any worse, so that’s a big bonus.”
Xander Schauffele on Bay Hill
Schauffele explains that Bay Hill is one of the most challenging places to return to play after a break, due to the difficulty of the terrain and the demands of the tournament, but he was happy to be able to get through qualifying and play all four rounds without any problems.
His caddy warned him about the challenging conditions of this course, but Xander had a strong motive to endure to the end and achieve success.
Schauffele stressed that he’s trying to make sure he’s in good mental shape, no matter what. This great golfer added that he can’t sit around all year complaining about not playing, thinking he’s just “rusty” and not playing. That kind of thing doesn’t matter in any sport, so he’ll just have to pick up the pace and adapt.
It will be interesting to see if the injury will cause him problems in the coming period, or if the 31-year-old will show superior performances just like last year.
Tennis World USA