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 match 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.
“All the things I used to be engaged on with Chris nonetheless appears like my swing, nevertheless it’s nonetheless one thing that’s somewhat bit uncomfortable,” Schauffele mentioned.
“So long as I’m producing good photographs I really feel the boldness to maintain shifting in the proper course, and clearly I obtained a number of confidence after some outcomes final yr.
“There are specific instances if 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 are feeling actually good.
“I’d say that final yr that was Quail Hole. And going into Valhalla I felt actually good.
“The Open Championship is a special beast – you’re simply making an attempt to maintain the ball in play, maintain it low, depart it on the proper facet of the outlet with the wind.
“So two fully totally different kinds of golf that cater to various things out of your sport. I’m excited to maintain working with Chris and see how nicely we will put the total swing collectively.
“Hopefully the whole lot feels regular prior to later. Identical to anything, if you take a while off – I took just a few weeks off enjoying golf – outdated habits die laborious and I begin to shift again into outdated swing patterns.”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 in some unspecified time in the future.
“I’m cruising round proper the place I need to be. It’s a wild time,” he mentioned.
“Profitable two majors and being additional away, or nearer to the Thirtieth-ranked participant than the primary primarily based on the low season numbers…hat’s off to Scottie – he’s a beast.
“He simply saved successful. Even in his down time he gained one other occasion, which pushed him even additional away. So it’s one among my objectives that can simply have to remain on the calendar for just a few extra years.
“If I get there I’ll be very joyful nevertheless it’s going to take a while and a few persistence.”
