Xander Schauffele Rebounds From Back Injury With Strong Opening Round

Things were looking rather grim for Xander Schauffele earlier this month, but after a more-than-solid opening round at The American Express, the 29-year-old seems to have taken a positive turn.

Schauffele fired off a 7-under 65 at La Quinta Country Club, one of the three courses that hosts the annual pro-am format PGA Tour event. Sitting three strokes back of leader Davis Thompson, Schauffele stands tied for seventh after Round 1.

At the Sentry Tournament of Champions, Schauffele walked off of Kapalua’s Plantation Course with a back injury. He quickly jetted home for an MRI—unaware of the exact cause of his pain—and his plan for the next few events was briefly up in the air.

This week, however, the world No. 6 showed up to La Quinta, Calif. ready to play, despite admitting he was not feeling 100% quite yet.

“It’s a little sore,” Schauffele said. “Trying to be as patient as possible to take things as slow as possible in terms of getting too many reps in and I guess being stupid in that sense.”

It’s taking some serious willpower for Schauffele to give his back time to rest while he continues to get treatment. The Olympic gold medalist revealed that he’s notorious for extending his practice sessions for longer than necessary.

The habit might not bode well for a lingering back injury, but Schauffele is well aware of that, and seems to be exercising self-restraint.

“I’m that golfer who is sort of like, ‘just one more,’ and it’s like 50. You know what I mean? I’m that guy.”

He added, “I’m trying to take this one slow so I don’t hurt it again or do something of that nature.”

Considering Schauffele’s impressive performance on Thursday, it’s safe to say he hasn’t hit too many range balls just yet.

Add us as a preferred source on Google