He was outside the top 20 after Friday’s play. A scintillating 5-under 67 on Saturday, however, helped the golfer jump 19 spots on the leaderboard to T5. Yes, it’s none other than Xander Schauffele who has come so close to the top spot. Unfortunately, the reality for the athlete seems a bit bitter, for the win seems a bit for the American, who is 5 strokes behind Keegan Bradley, the athlete at T1.

The 30-year-old came out candidly regarding the same in an interview following the third round at Castle Pines Golf Club. “It would be hard to,” conveyed the professional as he alluded to emerging victorious at the 2024 BMW Championship and claiming the top spot in the FedEx Cup standings. However, to do that, two things need to happen, as per Schauffele; “I’d have to win and Scottie would have to do something he’s never really done,” all the while alluding to Scottie Scheffler losing the top spot to him.

Schauffele, meanwhile, took to reminisce about his 2023 performance at the TOUR Championship before expectantly comparing his current run with the same. “I think if you’re in really good form going into East Lake and playing good golf,” said the pro while sharing his optimism for the season-ending finale, “You can kind of [win], I believe at least.”

Recounting the T2 finish at the 2023 TOUR Championship that came about from his 22-under 261, he hopefully added, “I tried to chase down Hovy last year and came up well short, but it was kind of dicey for a little bit, and I was much further back than I’m going to go in this year.” Interestingly, Xander Schauffele had been in the second spot behind Viktor Hovland in the 2023 FedEx Cup standings going into the final event at East Lake. Moreover, he finished 5 strokes behind the Norwegian professional, who registered a score of 27-under overall (sounds a bit familiar, doesn’t it?).

Regardless of the loss he might experience at Castle Pines, the athlete appears to be expectantly waiting for a chance of victory at the 2024 TOUR Championship set to take place next week. But, to do that, the pro will have to dish out the best he can on Sunday, seeing as how he is in a better situation than that of last year. Moreover, he will have to pull off the same while facing the frustrating conditions in Colorado that seemingly got on his nerves.

Xander Schauffele comes out candid about his frustrations

“I just feel this thing rising in me that I don’t want to forcefully push down,” divulged the pro as he hinted at the exasperation he felt while playing at the course. He added that it’s easy to brush off unfortunate things when one is playing good golf. But, it is a different case altogether if the person’s gameplay is poor. “When you’re trying to sort of force it a little bit and things aren’t going your way,” added Schauffele, “Then it gets frustrating, and then when you start playing good golf and hitting good shots and you hit it in the water and you hit a flagstick, you’ve got to dig deep sometimes.”

On Saturday, the athlete hit a double bogey at the par-4, 3rd hole, his only one so far at the tournament. The 30-year-old admitted how the whole process had his patience running thin; “It was a little embarrassing,” added Xander Schauffele, “for that thing to hit the wall and go in the water 20 yards off. Then hit a flagstick a hole later.” 

Come Sunday, the golfer might find himself a bit too far from the top spot or he might even pull off a miracle to emerge victorious. But all of it boils down to how he manages to compose himself in the face of the challenging Castle Pines Golf Club while singling out everything but the win! Will he be able to do it?