It’s truly a statement of prowess when you’re a seven-time PGA Tour winner and still fans believe you could’ve at least doubled it. Xander Schauffele has been runner-up 13 times in his career and has settled for the third spot nine times. Thrice has Schauffele turned back empty-handed from a playoff, most notably and recently in the 2019 Tour Championship to Viktor Hovland. 

It’s astounding that Schauffele’s last silverware came almost two years ago at the Genesis Scottish Open. But the 30-year-old is not Fate’s favorite child, and he knows it all too well. The 7x-PGA Tour winner doesn’t hide that it once took a toll on him. Now that he is older, it’s a little different.

Xander Schauffele has learned to be more stoical

Schauffele, however, considers him a slow learner. Speaking from Tampa Bay, the seven-time PGA Tour winner said, “I’m pretty aware of the path that I’ve been on my entire career. It’s been a slower path, I would say.” Schauffele still holds a handful of career records at San Diego State University. But the 30-year-old adds, “When I was in college, I wasn’t some world beater shooting 60 and playing in TOUR events when I was 16 or 17 or 18 years old even.”

The Jupiter native qualified for the US Open after joining the PGA Tour in 2017, two years after turning pro. His close friend, Patrick Cantlay, first played at the U.S. Open in 2011, netting a T21 finish. Schauffele admits that not finding early success like many of his peer, “ate me up when I was a kid, and it made me grind and push even harder, sort of have that chip on my shoulder.”

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But Schauffele feels the best is yet to come. “I feel like the best is in front of me, and the only way it’s not going to be in front of me is if I let all these things get to my head and not play my game.” The San Diego product will walk the talk when the time comes. Like THE PLAYERS heartbreak, for example. However, this time it was a little bit tougher.

THE PLAYERS Championship hurt, but Schauffele overcame

Schauffele walked on the greens with a one-shot lead over Wyndham Clark. But a Scottie Scheffler blitzkrieg coupled with his own mistakes cost him silverware and also a chance to touch Greg Norman’s record of 24-under. But the seven-time PGA Tour winner didn’t beat himself up for that. “I would say as I get a little bit older — I think I’m always pretty tough on myself, but you kind of put it to rest to a certain extent.”

Read More: Xander Schauffele’s Blunt Jay Monahan Admission Hints at Lurking Distrust: ‘A Long Way to Go’

Interestingly, it wouldn’t have been much different for the world No. 5, even if he won. Schauffele said this in the Valspar Championship press conference. “You’re really amped up, and you have all this emotion and adrenaline, and then even after a win, you really have this sort of like calming flush, whether it’s a gut punch or a celebration.” So, no, Xander Schauffele didn’t worry himself to death over the Sawgrass slip. Rather, the California native is waiting on the wings at the Copperhead course to strike back.

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