Injuries can be bad. Both physically and mentally. And if you’re a golfer–it’s eventually going to hurt your game. Feeling ready for the 2025 season despite experiencing bodily difficulties a few days before Christmas, Xander Schauffele continued his workouts. The result? He received a diagnosis of an intercostal strain—a small tear in the rib cartilage. However, the golfer didn’t seem too burdened and even joked, “I was left on my own, and, apparently, I am still a toddler.”

However, it wasn’t long before the burden of poor form seemed to weigh heavily on his shoulders, especially after his impressive 2024 season. During that time, the World No. 3 won two majors: the PGA Championship and The Open. But following his injury, his performance has declined. Schauffele has played three times on the greens this year, with his best finish being T30 at The Sentry. Currently, he is swinging at TPC Sawgrass, where he sits at T37. What happens next remains to be seen, but let’s take a look at how the golfer feels about his poor performance at THE PLAYERS Championship.

“Really bad. Yeah. Yeah, just not very good,” Schauffele said. In the latest round, he finished with a score of 71, recording three birdies and two bogeys. Undoubtedly, Schauffele can perform better. So what’s holding him back from peak performance? In his words: “Everything. Yeah.” He even listed his mistakes: not hitting the ball close enough, duffing chips, missing every fairway, and hitting fairways but missing greens. Clearly, the golfer has identified the flaws in his game. “It’s pretty gross, to be completely honest. So if I can eke out this cut, that would be nice. But the game feels pretty bad.”

Schauffele faced pressure on the 9th fairway, sitting at even par and needing a birdie to secure a Saturday tee time. He hit a towering high-draw shot that landed 50 feet from the pin and then calmly two-putted for the birdie, finishing at 1-under. Reflecting on the moment, he said he “was thinking about the cut line for sure.” However, making it into Saturday didn’t feel particularly impressive to him. When asked if he was being too hard on himself, the golfer shook his head. The 31-year-old said, “I almost missed the cut on what is a pretty easy course right now, so I don’t think so.”

Despite his low confidence, fans continue to pin their hopes on the star golfer. So, what’s going on with him? Let’s take a closer look.

Xander Schauffele’s rollercoaster of emotions in the 2025 season

Despite a bad start, Schauffele extended his streak of consecutive made cuts to 58 by making birdies on the 13th, 14th, and 16th holes in the second round at the API. This achievement placed him 6th on the all-time list for consecutive cuts made, behind golf legends like Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus. However, the injury persisted, and so did his awareness of it. Reflecting on his performance, Schauffele said, “It’s a cool thing, you know I try really hard to not quit, even today going double-double. I was sitting in a really nice spot.” Noting this determination, Tiger Woods’s ex-coach, Hank Haney, called it a “great trait.”

Just a few days ago, as he headed into the ongoing The PLAYERS, the golfer expressed hope about his injury. In fact, if what he’s hearing is correct, he just needs to ensure he doesn’t make it worse. “I have pretty much all hands on deck to make sure that after rounds and before rounds, I’m in a nice warm spot to get going. Is there a little bit of fear there? I mean, a little bit. But I think that’s probably how I got hurt in the first place—just too much run-and-gun. However, I think I need a little bit of that right now.”

Undoubtedly, he must maintain his health with the golf world gearing up for the Masters in a few weeks. Last year, Schauffele finished T10. Will he be able to break into the top 10 this year? That remains to be seen.