ORLANDO, Florida: Xander Schauffele took his first swing on a PGA Tour course in 57 days and found the middle of the fairway.
And then he took another golf ball from his bag and tossed it into the thick rough. That was the real test.
“If this doesn’t go well,” he recalled telling his caddie, “then I’m going to get in my car and drive back to Jupiter.”
Schauffele gave it a rip and didn’t feel any twinge in his right ribs from an intercostal strain and slight tear in his cartilage that has kept him out of golf for two months. He returns to the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill this week with modest expectations.
He started the year as the top threat to Scottie Scheffler, the world’s No. 1 player. Schauffele broke through in a big way in 2024 by winning two majors at the PGA Championship and the British Open, going from no majors to halfway to the career Grand Slam.
That lasted all of one week at The Sentry at Kapalua, where he finished in the middle of the pack and then realized that nagging pain was more serious than he thought.
He isn’t sure if the injury stemmed from trying to gain more speed in his swing or something during a workout. He describes it as a perfect storm — it happened right when his trainer left the country to get his visa renewed. He didn’t get any soft tissue therapy, like usual. He figured it was not a big deal, until it became one.
He missed two tournaments at Torrey Pines in his hometown of San Diego. He watched way too much golf on TV to see what he was missing.
And now he has some catching up to do.
Bay Hill is loaded again as a signature event, the third time the top three players — Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and Schauffele — are in the same field since the Tour Championship last August.
“I wouldn’t call it like the dream place to come back to, to be completely honest,” Schauffele said. “Everyone knows what Bay Hill gives you — it takes a lot more than it gives — and you have to earn every par or birdie or bogey that you make. It’s a tough place.”
But it’s a dream part of the schedule — Bay Hill, The Players Championship next week and the Masters is right around the corner.
“I would be lying if I said I was in the most comfortable position ever,” Schauffele said. “I’ve been practicing mentally to convince myself that I’m still in some crazy-good form. Trying to use that sort of low expectation with serious focus to try and get the most out of what you’re doing. Just think about all the greats that have had to take some time off and came back and played really well.
“I think Scottie came back and he wasn’t close to winning, but played pretty decent and put himself back in the mix, so I don’t see why I can’t do that.”
Scheffler can appreciate what Schauffele faces this week. He also went two months without playing because of a freak injury when he was trying to cut ravioli with a wine glass and it punctured his right palm.
He has two top 10s in his three starts since returning.
“I think it’s challenging any time you’re coming off an injury,” Scheffler said. “That first time you step back out inside the ropes, it’s different playing competition tournament golf, and there’s definitely challenges to it and it takes a little bit of time to get used to.
“I’m a big routine guy and so being injured and being out of my routine was definitely an unusual thing. Xander’s a guy that’s fairly routine as well, so I’m sure there will be some adjustments, but it’s definitely good to have him back out playing.”
Because it’s a player-hosted event (Palmer), the 72-man field features a 36-hole cut to top 50 and ties. Schauffele has the longest active streak on the PGA Tour at 57 in a row.
In three previous trips to Bay Hill, he has only one round in the 60s.
Schauffele said he relied on plenty of scans to make sure he couldn’t reinjure his ribs, and that shot he took out of the rough was another indication. He played nine holes using only his irons in San Diego. He returned to his South Florida home and played nine holes on a par-3 course with Justin Thomas, 18 holes on his own, and then came to Bay Hill.
“So this is as good as it’s going to get,” he said.
