Xander Schauffele is confident that he is back to a level where he can compete with the best ahead of the 2025 Masters, having recently recovered from injury. (More Sports News)
After winning the PGA Championship and The Open in 2024, Schauffele tore cartilage in his ribcage and suffered an intercostal strain and, while staying patient during his healing, watched Rory McIlroy overtake him to No.2 in the World Golf Rankings.
"Rory has been playing unbelievably well this year with a couple wins already and kind of breezing through what looks like hard golf courses," Schauffele said, as reported by ESPN.
"There's so many guys that have played at a really high level, and luckily I've learned that I can play at that level, too."
Schauffele made his return to golf at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March where he finished T40, and has since played in three more events in the lead up to the Masters.
The 31-year-old acknowledged that the more he has played since recovery from injury, the easier it has been to swing more freely.
"It's been a process to get back to that. I don't have a ton of reps doing it, but there's a lot for me to draw back on, sort of previous accomplishments to sort of let that confidence grow," he said.
A win at Augusta would bring Schauffele to three career majors and one away from a career Grand Slam, while McIlroy is just a Masters victory away from becoming just the sixth golfer in history to complete the sweep.
"Believe it or not, [winning the Grand Slam] was always a thought before I won any of them," said Schauffele.
"It's a lot cooler to be a lot closer to that dream of mine at 31 versus 35 or 36 [and] not having won one."
Schauffele has four top-10 finishes at the Masters since 2019, while he was 32 under par across all four majors in 2024 – 15 strokes ahead of any other player to make the cut at all four tournaments.
Fit again, he is working out what he can realistically do to help himself win the green jacket.
"I'd like to think I feel similar. I don't really wake up and feel more accomplished. I feel like the same guy," he said.
"I think the big difference will be when I get in those spots. My dream is just to give myself another chance coming down the stretch.
"I think I said that after the PGA, at The Open: If I can get myself in a spot to win this thing, I feel pretty good about doing it, and I did it. I think that kind of goes for every major I play in now. If I can get myself in a good spot.
"I'm going to fail at times, but man, I think I can deal with it a lot better than I used to be able to before, before winning."
