Still waiting on Xander Schauffele for the 2025 Arnold Palmer Invitational? The 31-year-old was last seen in the inaugural match of TGL way back in the first week of January 2025. Since then, Schauffele has been out of commission recovering from the rib injury he procured in late 2024. The rehabilitation has forced him to withdraw from two signature events already. And now, he could be making it three.

Famed journalist and close associate of Schauffele, Dan Rapaport shared a shocking tweet that might displease the fans. It read, “Xander Schauffele says he is “hopeful” to return to competition at next week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational. Decision later this week. After a two-major 2024, the world No. 2 hasn’t competed since early January. Missed 2 signature events due to a rib injury. Tough timing.”

If Schauffele is willing to push it to a last-minute decision, then he might still not have recovered completely. So even if he decides to drop in at the Bay Hill Golf Course on March 6, 2025, fans can assume that he is still not in the best shape to compete. Whether he does that or not is still up for debate.

However, one thing is certain, Xander Schauffele will lose his second place on the Official World Golf Rankings leaderboard, March 3, 2025. He will be taken over by the Irishman, Rory McIlroy after his win at the 2025 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am a few weeks ago. Seems like Xander Schauffele’s camp is going through an extremely rough patch at the moment.

But it is hard to keep Schauffele away from golf despite being unavailable for action. Let’s see what he has been up to in the last few weeks.

A wild Xander Schauffele appeared!

For those who don’t get the geek, Xander Schauffele has been enjoying golf as a celebrity and a fan. A few days ago, Schauffele gave an interview where he discussed his journey through the injury. He appeared in a PGA Tour interview where he discussed his injury and other aspects of his career. That’s when he confirmed “I’m sidelined” for an extended period this season.

More recently, it had been 48 days since the current world no. 2 graced the course. Celebrating the occasion, Schauffele was seen at a TGL match in the SoFi Center arena. The 2x major winner was in the dugout cheering his New York GC teammates during their contest against Los Angeles GC. Must’ve really soaked it in as there have been no further sightings or reports of his attendance at other events. Seems like Xander Schauffele is keeping himself busy during his time away from competition.

With him out, New York isn’t missing a beat—Matt Fitzpatrick, Cameron Young, and Rickie Fowler have stepped up. But it will be really difficult for Xander Schauffele to go back to winning as soon as he returns to the PGA Tour. Does that mean he is not a favorite going into the majors in 2025?