Defending Open champion Xander Schauffele has described his 2025 season as “pretty bad” and “weird” speaking ahead of this weekends Genesis Scottish Open.
The 31-year-old American spoke honestly about his season so far in which he has failed to replicate the success of 2024 where he won both the Open Championship and the U.S. Open.
“I’d say the belief is good. I don’t think I’ve given myself a lot of reasons to believe that I’m playing OK. It’s been a pretty bad year to be completely honest,” the World No. 3 said.
His comments show a stark contrast between his excellent 2024 season and his current difficulties.
“I probably downplayed it in my own mind — ‘Yeah, you’ll be fine, you’ve been playing great golf, you just came off the best year of your career’ — and I’ve backed it up currently with the worst year of my career. It’s been a hot one.”
He also admitted he has felt the emotional weight of his struggles.
“I’m trying to get into some sort of contention to try and feel something again, other than upset,” he said. “I think I’ve just been angry-ish. That’s like been the biggest emotion of this is frustrating, versus why we love playing to be in contention and kind of see what you can do”.
Schauffele had suffered from a intercostal strain and cartilage tear in December which caused him to miss a large chunk of the beginning of season after attempting to play through the injury at The Sentry in January.
“There were some [alarm] bells that I ignored,” Schauffele said. “It was a kind of perfect storm. Trainer had to go back, renew his visa. I was left on my own and, apparently, I’m still a toddler. I kept training and golfing and training and golfing, and I’m used to having someone either hold my hand or do something as simple as soft tissue. I didn’t get any help, and I think that is sort of what put my back against the wall”.
He revealed the injury meant he “could barely sneeze or roll over in bed without wincing”.
His performance numbers in 2025 tell a troubling story. His Data Golf True Strokes Gained rankings show him at 28th place in Strokes Gained: Total, earning just 1.01 strokes per round. This marks a steep decline from his consistent top-5 ranking in 2024.
His game shows worrying signs in several areas. His putting rank has plummeted to 106th on tour – a shocking drop for someone who ranked among the top 20 last season. His driving skills have also taken a hit, falling to 78th in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee with 0.17 strokes. His iron play remains a bright spot at 8th in approach (0.77), though it doesn’t match his 2024 standards.
Scoring has also suffered. His average has jumped nearly a full stroke from 68.74 to 69.61 this year, while his birdie average dropped from 4.21 to 3.78 per round.
In spite of his recent struggle, the American seemed in good spirits after he walked into the media centre and saw his picture beneath a sign that said “Toilets” and joked: “That was heartwarming. Summed up how I’m feeling about what’s going on right now. I actually chuckled when I saw that one”.
Schauffele is currently positioned 57th in FedExCup standings meaning he will need to pick up some form to reach the top-50 BMW Championship field but believes he would be happy enough to end a tournament with some confidence in the game.
“If I can play 72 holes without fiddling with my golf swing this week, that would be a massive win, and wherever I finish, I finish”.