Xander Schauffele gave a pointed response to a “weird” question about his game ahead of the PGA Championship. Schauffele claimed his first major title 12 months ago, which was quickly followed by his second as he won The Open at Troon a few months later.
The 31-year-old begins his 2025 PGA Championship challenge on Thursday morning in an illustrious group containing Masters champion Rory McIlroy and world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler. In a media session ahead of the Quail Hollow tournament, Schauffele was left bemused by an early question about what facet of his game – driving, approach, putting or around the green – he would trade for another player’s. He said: “That’s a weird question, considering we’re getting ready for a major where we’re just trying to be the best at all those things.
“If I’m nitpicking myself, I would probably give up my short game for someone else’s. There’s a big group of guys who are what I would call elite chippers.
“I don’t know, there’s probably five or six guys I can think of that do that really well. That would probably take a little bit of stress off my putter at times. In all honesty, I probably wouldn’t. I like the challenge of trying to get better at that too. So I’m okay with what I got.”
Meanwhile, Schauffele believes his game is ideally suited to Quail Hollow after previous strong showing at the North Carolina course. He finished runner-up in the Wells Fargo Championship in 2023 and 2024, with McIlroy overhauling him last year with a final round of 65, despite a double bogey on the last.
That tournament, now known as the Truist Championship, switched to Philadelphia Cricket Club this year, with Quail Hollow hosting the 107th US PGA where Schauffele will attempt to become the first back-to-back winner since Brooks Koepka in 2018-19.
“I’m aware that I’ve played really well there and come up short two years in a row,” said Schauffele. “I think it fits my eye for whatever reason and I’ve been up at the top of the leaderboard for the last two years so I don’t see why this year should be an issue.
“I guess writers call it horses for courses. For us, golfers sort of play well in stretches and like certain courses for some reasons. I’m sure there’s some analytics or statistics that could back that up.
“But yeah, you just have to get on a property and you have to feel good, and the vibe has to be good, and I’ve sort of had that feeling when I’m on property there. So the hope is to sort of keep that going.”
Quail Hollow will play to 7,626 yards and boasts a daunting closing three-hole stretch known as ‘The Green Mile’, but Schauffele is well aware that danger lurks everywhere. When the course last played host to the tournament in 2017, Justin Thomas emerged victorious with a modest total of eight under par.
“I think the overall length of the property, the green complexes, the speed of the greens [makes it so hard],” he said. “You know, there’s sneaky, sneaky trouble kind of lurking. People obviously see hazards and OB (out of bounds) and things of that nature, but some of those holes are sort of relatively wide open from penalty area to penalty area.
“But there are some big trees and you really have to be in play to be successful on that property. I think that’s sort of why I’ve played well is I’ve hit the driver really well there, and that kind of sets you up for success.
“It’s a hard place to scramble if you’re not hitting many fairways and kind of in the rough and trying to work your way up to holes, it’s not an easy place to get around.”