Xander Schauffele enters the FedExCup final ranked No. 2 and is enjoying his best start to the tournament since making his TOUR Championship debut at East Lake Golf Club in 2017.
Prior to the tournament, PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan will address the media in what many are calling a State of the Tour speech, where he will speak on a variety of topics surrounding professional golf.
But Schauffele isn't one of those players who worries about that. He's made the decision to shift his focus and worry more consciously about himself.
“To be honest with you, I didn't really care,” Schauffele said. “I was a little busy with my own stuff and I didn't really think about it. I was just focusing on myself and didn't ask anybody how the tour was going. I was curious about how Xander was doing, but that's it.”
That mindset continues to pay off for Schauffele, a nine-time PGA Tour winner who has won the PGA Championship and British Open and has half of the major championships lined up for 2024.
He's coming off the best season of his career, with 14 top-10s, 19 top-25s and three runner-up finishes in 20 starts.
Schauffele said maybe he should read his emails from the Tour more often, but chose to focus on what he could control.
Photo: Christian Petersen/Getty Images
“What's going on with the tour integration and the state of golf is very private,” he said. “Those are discussions behind closed doors. I've never been in those rooms and I've never really thought about it. That's probably why I'm playing a lot better than I have in the past. I'm just focusing on myself.”
The 30-year-old Schauffele hasn't finished outside the top 25 since tying for 54th at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February. Since winning the British Open, Schauffele has finished tied for ninth, tied for second and tied for fifth.
Shifting his focus from an uncertain future in professional golf appears to have paid off. He has just one assignment left, and it's at the place where he's had so much success: East Lake is usually favorable for Schauffele, who has seven top 10s and three runner-up finishes in his past five starts at the venue.
Schauffele could take the FedEx Cup away from Scottie Scheffler depending on how he plays over the last month. He starts the round at 8 under par, two strokes behind Scheffler. The two players tee off at 2 p.m. in the first round of the Tour Championship.
Savannah Lee Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation Playing Through. Follow us for more golf articles. Follow You can follow us on all major social platforms. You can also follow us on Twitter Follow Her Instagram account is @golf_girl_sl.
