Xander Schauffele had a huge celebration after winning the PGA Championship last month.
But fortunately, he didn’t let the hangover linger until this week’s Memorial Tournament, shooting a perfect 4-under 68 in the opening round on Thursday.
“I’m happy with how I played, I hung in there and I’m really happy my short game saved the day from what could have been a lot worse,” Schauffele said.
“I know I need to improve a little bit on the longer course. This course is really difficult and it’s expected to be even windier tomorrow than it was today, so I know I need to improve.”
Schauffele’s putter helped him to a zero bogeys on Thursday, and he gained nearly four strokes on the greens to move into the lead of the 73 players in the first round. He made multiple par saves, particularly on the fifth, eighth and ninth holes, to finish the first nine holes scoreless.
He continued to perform well after that, starting the final round with a 16-footer to save par on the 10th hole.
“If I hadn’t made some of the putts I needed today, I would have been 2 over par, maybe worse,” Schauffele said.
“Right from the get-go, I could see the line right away. I was looking to make the putt short, so as soon as I got the speed down, I just got rolling.”
Schauffele hasn’t been at his best from tee to green, but after sitting out three weeks of competition, he said he resumed practice on the Thursday after the PGA Championship — the same day as the opening round of the Charles Schwab Challenge.
“Believe it or not, I started practicing. I think you saw some weird shots today, but I was practicing. I started practicing on Thursday when I got home,” Schauffele said.
“I was hungover on Monday, did media appearances on Tuesday and Wednesday, then started playing golf on Thursday.”
At least the hangover has worn off, or Schauffele wouldn’t be able to see his lines as clearly as he did in the opening round, but somehow, thanks to a strong putter, Schauffele is two strokes behind leader Adam Hadwin and one stroke behind Scottie Scheffler in sole second place.
Jack Mirko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation Playing Through. Follow For more golf articles, follow us on Twitter Jack Mirko In the same way.
