Xander Schauffele is heading to the Valspar Championship looking to find his groove before The Masters, despite battling through what he calls a “pretty gross” stretch of golf lately.
The World No. 3 has been struggling since coming back from a rib injury, but you wouldn’t know it from his incredible streak of making 58 straight tournament cuts. That’s the longest such run since Tiger Woods’ mind-boggling 142 consecutive cuts from 1998 to 2005.
“Really bad,” Schauffele said bluntly about his recent play at The Players Championship. “Just not very good… from duffing chips to missing every fairway… It’s pretty gross, to be completely honest.”
But even while fighting his game, he’s showing the grit that’s made him one of golf’s top players. He barely squeaked into the weekend at both the Arnold Palmer Invitational and The Players, keeping his impressive cut streak alive.
Last year’s tournament was good to him – he finished tied for fifth at the Valspar.
He’ll need that same magic this year. The Valspar Championship is one of just three events left before The Masters, where Schauffele came tantalizingly close to winning in 2019 with a second-place finish.
The field at Palm Harbor, Florida is stacked. Twenty-four of the world’s top 50 players are showing up to compete for the $8.7 million purse at Innisbrook Resort.
Some big names joining Schauffele include:
– Justin Thomas
– Jordan Spieth
– Tommy Fleetwood
– Shane Lowry
– Rising stars Akshay Bhatia and Sahith Theegala
For Schauffele, who won both the PGA Championship and The Open last year, this tournament could be just what he needs to sharpen his game before heading down Magnolia Lane at Augusta National.
