Xander Schauffele insists his remodelled swing stays a piece in progress as he seems to be to capitalise on Scottie Scheffler’s absence from The Sentry.
World primary Scheffler has been dominated out of the opening PGA Tour occasion of 2025 in Hawaii after present process surgical procedure to restore a hand wound sustained whereas cooking Christmas dinner.
His absence sees Schauffele, the winner of final yr’s PGA Championship and Open Championship, put in as the brand new favorite for the event in Maui that begins on Thursday.
SWING CHANGES
However the 31-year-old from San Diego insists he’s nonetheless attending to grips with the adjustments made to his swing overseen by famend coach Chris Como throughout a break from the sport late final yr.
“Every part I used to be engaged on with Chris nonetheless seems like my swing, however it’s nonetheless one thing that’s somewhat bit uncomfortable,” Schauffele stated.
“So long as I’m producing good pictures I really feel the arrogance to maintain transferring in the appropriate route, and clearly I bought a variety of confidence after some outcomes final yr.
“There are specific occasions once you’re making an attempt to push your swing to a sure place otherwise you stack two or three good weeks in a row and you’re feeling actually good.
“I might say that final yr that was Quail Hole. And going into Valhalla I felt actually good.
“The Open Championship is a unique beast – you’re simply making an attempt to maintain the ball in play, maintain it low, go away it on the appropriate facet of the opening with the wind.
“So two utterly totally different types of golf that cater to various things out of your sport. I’m excited to maintain working with Chris and see how effectively we are able to put the complete swing collectively.
“Hopefully all the pieces feels regular earlier than later. Similar to anything, once you take a while off – I took a couple of weeks off taking part in golf – previous habits die laborious and I begin to shift again into previous swing patterns.”
RORY MISSING
With world quantity three Rory McIlroy additionally absent from The Sentry – the Northern Irishman is the one participant of the 60 who certified for the occasion to not seem – the chances are additional stacked in Schauffele’s favour.
Scheffler has a commanding place on the prime of the worldwide rankings however Schauffele hopes to overhaul him sooner or later.
“I’m cruising round proper the place I wish to be. It’s a wild time,” he stated.
“Profitable two majors and being additional away, or nearer to the Thirtieth-ranked participant than the primary based mostly on the low season numbers…hat’s off to Scottie – he’s a beast.
“He simply saved successful. Even in his down time he received one other occasion, which pushed him even additional away. So it’s one among my targets that can simply have to remain on the calendar for a couple of extra years.
“If I get there I’ll be very completely happy however it’s going to take a while and a few endurance.”
