PGA Championship Tuesday, May 18, 2021 Kiawah Island, South Carolina, USA The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Xander Schauffele Press Conference Q. Talking about San Diego, the contrast. There's going to be a bunch of big tournaments by the water THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon. Welcome back to this year -- the 2021 PGA Championship here at the Ocean Course in Kiawah Island, South Carolina. We are very pleased to be XANDER SCHAUFFELE: A lot of coastal tournaments, joined by official world golf ranking No. 4 Xander yeah. Schauffele. Xander, welcome to what is your fifth career PGA Championship, and what's interesting about your Q. What is the contrast, and very specific about each progression is that with every appearance you've played of the golf courses and each of the tournaments? better and better. Appeared in the top 10 last August back in California. Is there something that you're kind of syncing XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Just different grass, I think. The up with about what a PGA Championship golf course is greens here are perfect. They're paspalum. The fairways and learning more as you go along, and have you learned are perfect. They're some sort of mix of Bermuda with a enough to get to the winner's circle this week do you think? little paspalum, kind of spotty in certain areas. The type of grass it is I'm not too away of. Everything is perfect. XANDER SCHAUFFELE: I hope so. That's the plan. All the failed attempts are hopefully going to lead to success Torrey Pines should be in great condition. It's nice to have at some point. I think I can attribute all the recent good everyone out in August or whenever the U.S. Open will be play in the PGA Championships, or the better play, I should in a couple months here. The grass is very different. The say, just to experience. greens aren't as pure at Torrey Pines. They're bumpier and sketchier. If you hit a good putt out here there's no I think as the courses get harder, if you look at sort of -- I reason it shouldn't go in. don't even remember my first PGA -- Quail Hollow, scoring wise was one of the tougher ones. My second one was So in terms of coastal golf, I think it's just wind dependent. Bellerive. That was an earlier score, and then it kind of That's probably the only similarity the two properties have ramped up with Bethpage and Harding Park and now here. is they're both on the water and both going to be windy. Just sort of prepare your game for windy conditions and I don't see a really low score winning this week with the find out how to flight the ball correctly. wind and difficulty of the course, which usually feeds into sort of my ballpark. Q. We were talking with Rory about 2012 and we were talking about when you have memories of winning Q. You've had plenty of occasions of playing with something and we were talking to Adam Scott, too, wind. In Hawai'i you played with wind. You have and the memories are more mental than anything. It's Pacific, Atlantic, everything. What do you do here not about technique and all that. I know this might be mentally and -- a fabulous secret, but what do you do mentally, and if you can be a little specific -- XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, it's just like San Diego -- I'm kidding. San Diego if it's blowing 10 miles an hour it's XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, I mean, mentally it's just a breezy. This is new. It's been a while I'd say since I've -- if you're not tired after each and every round you play played in a lot of wind, and it does funny things to your golf this week, then you probably didn't try enough hard game and your golf swing. enough. When it's windy like this it's a complete headache for the player and the caddie. It's a collaborative effort. It's Just been trying to iron out sort of those compensations just tough. that I've been making and moving along in that direction. It's really tough, and if you can and your caddie can focus 107537-1-1041 2021-05-18 19:54:00 GMT Page 1 of 4 for six hours each day -- it's a major championship. If you can focus long enough, more than everyone else, you have The second thing is the mistakes I've made are all very a better chance of beating them. Obviously you have to hit similar. I've sort of been in contention when I've been the right shots and everything, but you also have to think playing really, really well and I've sort of been around the your way around the property when it's this windy. lead, as well when I haven't been playing as well, and I think both times I sort of lost track of where I was in the Q. You mentioned compensations in the wind. I'm tournament in terms of mentally, and I wasn't present. wondering what are some things that you do to play effective golf in the wind? I think that's a lot of what champions talk about, how they're able to stay present and go shot to shot and sort of XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, when I say stick to what they know best. For me I haven't won a compensation, I mean the way I swing. I sort of tug on the whole lot in my life or in my career when it comes to golf. handle and I can shut the face down pretty quick, that sort It's such a new thing for me, and I'm still getting used to of bowed left wrist that people like to refer to. When it's sort of trying to win. Sometimes I get ahead of myself and windier I feel like I need to hit it even lower and that bowed look too far in advance. left wrist sneaks in even more, too soon in my swing. Q. Every two years we start talking about the Ryder I'll get it going left and kind of up high to the right and those Cup. Have you talked to the captain? What are you shots aren't good in the wind or in any condition for that looking forward to there? What are the preparations? matter. For me it's sort of trying to stay -- the old saying is What's going on with that? swing easy when it's breezy or whatever the saying is, but that's sort of the mentality that my dad and I been trying to XANDER SCHAUFFELE: It's sort of been small chatter work on this week, is not getting to caught up with sort of text-wise. I know Stricker fairly well now, him sort of being crosswinds or into the wind and still trying to swing as if a vice captain or assistant captain at the Presidents Cup there was no wind almost. and sort of being around him or playing around him for a few years. Q. Just curious, have you played the 17th? In terms of preparation I think he wants everyone to keep XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yes, I have. their head down and focus on playing each and every golf tournament, each and every shot. He announced that Q. How difficult is it, and the challenge of playing that there's a lot of points out to grab still, and I'm not really hole? thinking a whole lot about it yet. XANDER SCHAUFFELE: I hit a 2-iron in the water and I think there are some scheduled practice rounds at then I hit a 2-iron to two feet. I think that kind of sums up Whistling Straits that you should attend if you're in the top the hole in all honesty. When you're hitting a long iron into 25 or so, and I'll do that. But besides that it's sort of wind and it's struck properly, it should hold its line and its week-to-week and day-to-day for me, and the Ryder Cup is flight. If you don't, it's going to go way off line and not hold so far away in my mind and on my schedule that I'm just its flight. worried about this week. I think for me it's sort of you've really got to muster up Q. So something that is closer is the Olympics. Can some courage coming down the stretch and depending on you tell us about your plans for that and also your where they put that tee box, it's going to be really tricky. personal connection with Japan? Q. It's well documented you've had a bunch of close XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, of course. The Olympics, calls in the majors and THE PLAYERS. They always unfortunately I think they announced that there's no foreign say that you learn from your losses. What are your spectators. It's kind of a tricky one. Obviously Japan has takeaways that kind of help you prepare mentally for invested a lot of money and infrastructure, or built a lot of this week at the PGA Championship? infrastructure and stuff to accommodate the Olympics and tourists and everything, so I understand why there's sort of XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, the takeaway is a couple questions about having the Olympics.