THE MODERATOR: We would like to welcome the champion of the 2022 Travelers Championship, Xander Schauffele. Exciting finish. Just a couple of bullets before we ask you a question or two. Sixth PGA TOUR win. Second this season. Number 8 in the FedExCup. First individual title in, what was it, four or five years? So congratulations.
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Don't remind me.
THE MODERATOR: Congratulations. I think the question that I wanted to ask you was, waiting on that 18th tee watching all that unfold in front of you, just talk about that a little bit and how that played out.
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, my mind was telling me hit a good drive and you're going to have a sand wedge or lob wedge in there and a really good look at birdie with that pin kind of on the slope. And to sit there and watch sort of what happened was a bit of a shock obviously. I really had to try and focus on the task at hand. And sitting there waiting, sort of watching, not really knowing what's going on, but kind of having an idea is a strange thing. So was happy to just hit that tee shot straight down the fairway.
THE MODERATOR: As I mentioned this is the first individual title in a few years. You won the Olympics, you won a team event with your good friend Patrick. Just what does this mean to you now to sort of move on and win that individual title that you've been looking for?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: It feels really good. Everyone talks about how hard it is and I only had the Olympics to sort of fall back on having a lead and kind of closing it. I've never done it on the PGA TOUR.
So it was nice to sort of -- I mean to do it in Japan and then sort of have that experience, I really tapped into that today.
THE MODERATOR: Questions?
Q. Seems like you have to really stay focused and stay in the moment for what you experienced today. Not only watching the putt on 17 but the drive on 18. Has that always been a strength of yours or is that something that's developed as you've become more experienced?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: I think it's probably something that's been more developed. I haven't really had a hard time focusing growing up. My wife tells me I'm the worst multi-tasker on the planet so that usually bodes well if you can only focus on one thing.
I think in the past when I had 54-hole leads or close to the lead my Sundays feel really fast. And I'd be kind of sitting back in the hotel or at a house on Sunday sort of thinking, what happened today?
So this week I really wanted to stay present and really just focus on sort of the task at hand, which was each and every shot. And I told Austin to hold me accountable on the first hole walking up there and he did a really great job and both of us were pretty much dialed in from the first hole.
Q. Can you talk about the pressure after that on the 17th. You had the lead pretty much the whole time, but it started to shrink. You see him take the lead on 17. Can you talk about that and ability to come back from that?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: No, I mean being out here, I've been out here long enough, this is my sixth year on TOUR, and you just know that no one's going to give it to you, not out here on the PGA TOUR. No one is going to hand you a win.
I was very aware of that and ready to birdie the last and I thought that was going to be to get in a playoff. So just lucky it was to make me on top.
Q. You won the Olympic gold medal, you won with Patrick, the whole sort of, Oh, well he hasn't won an individual stroke play event since the Sentry, etcetera. How much does that kind of wear on you and your caddie was saying that sort of earlier this season you were kind like, we got to win, we got a get a win here. Can you describe that moment?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, I like to talk to my team a lot about how I'm feeling week-to-week. It's been a year where my stats have been very solid. Just haven't really put in four good rounds of golf. So I think subconsciously or without myself even really knowing I was getting a little impatient. And this week I was just trying to be as aware, self aware as possible to just stay as patient as possible. Just realize that I put the work in and if I can just sort of do what I've been doing and just focus a little bit more throughout the day that it will pay off in a big way and fortunately it did.
Q. When you're watching on 18 tee did it make you more focused or did you have the same game plan in mind or did it change your game plan once you saw what he was doing?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: I think I focused a little bit more. I was expecting him to par or birdie. He hits it a really long way. So if he hit it down the fairway he would have had a lob wedge in as well.
I knew the 18th hole is, even though it's downwind, that left bunker is dangerous, as we saw. The right rough is probably the thickest on the property. So if for whatever reason you don't hit a great tee shot there you're trying to play for par. With the greens being firm and crusty you just never know what can happen.
So I really just tried to worry about myself and the task at hand and I think Austin and I did a really good job of that.
Q. Where do you go from here? I guess you go over to Scotland, you play in the Open Championship. What are your goals the remainder of this season?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: I think to win more. But I really think this was like, in a small way, this is a big win for me mentally. Just because I sort of had a to check myself, you know what I mean? When you've been out here and things are going easy you just expect to play well all the time. Sometimes it's good to take a step back. And I thought I did that this week.
Like I said, I don't know if that's the reason I won, but it definitely made me feel more comfortable and helped my process throughout the week.
Q. Broadcast showed you on 18 tee, looked like you had just a look in your eye like you were ready to go win this thing. Do you have like a zone or a place that you go to? We heard Tiger talk about that when he's coming down the stretch. Do you have a place in your mind that you go mentally when you have to close something out like that?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: You just lock in. I don't really know how to describe it. Yeah, it sort of, after I saw what happened I knew that there's a chance par would win, and birdie for sure. So I had to hit the fairway. So I was just so locked in in that moment to hit that fairway and swing as hard as I could off that tee. Nothing else really mattered. So I'm not really sure how to answer that.
Q. You've experienced some heartbreak I'm sure throughout the many many years that you played golf whether it's at the amateur game or on the PGA TOUR. With what happened to Sahith on 18, what maybe advice would you have for him, someone who is very early on to his PGA TOUR career, and what happened to him on 18.
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, Sahith and Carl, they're two great guys. They're a great team. And he was right there again and today and then in Arizona. So he knows he can play to a level that will win out here on TOUR and that's sort of -- I think I don't need to tell him anything. I think he just needs to keep knocking on that door until he breaks that thing down.
Q. Do you think you might reduce the number of minutes you give yourself before a tee time, given what happened on Thursday?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: (Laughing).
I don't know. You know, that was just an honest mistake. Austin was not very happy with me. Considering the fact that he sat there for 45 minutes by himself on the putting green kind of looking like an idiot. So it's funny to joke about it now, but I'll probably stick to my hour, hour before versus 30 minutes.
Q. What does it say about the young guys on this TOUR, you had Sahith as you mentioned and you have an amateur finishes fourth here. What does it say about those young guys coming up?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, there's been a lot of talk about where golf is right now, sort of some can say the fracturing of our game, but the future's bright. And I feel like an old guy. I'm 28 years old and I feel like I'm one of the old guys out here on TOUR, unfortunately. I got all these young guys winning around me that it just motivates me to push harder and be better. So thanks to them.
THE MODERATOR: How do you plan to celebrate tonight? Are you going to fill that with something?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: No, it's actually happy anniversary. It's my one-year anniversary with my wife. So I'm going to --
(Applause.)
I'm going to go try and get home and see my wife.
THE MODERATOR: We'll try not to keep you too much longer. Appreciate it.
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Thank you.
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