THE MODERATOR: We would like to welcome Xander Schauffele into the interview here at the Truist Championship. He has six starts at the Truist, including five top-20 finishes, back-to-back runner-up first downs in 2023 and 2024. Xander, an impressive resume you have, if we can talk a little bit about being back at Quail Hollow.
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, it's definitely a course that I like to play, and a course that I've sort of learned to play a little bit better as I've played it more. So nice to be back on property here at Quail Hollow.
THE MODERATOR: Let's talk about the state of your game. Four top 10s in 2026. You entered the week No. 12 in the FedExCup standings. If you can talk a little bit about the state of your game.
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, I would say I've put together a few good weeks. I haven't really been in touch with the lead too much in most events. Overall just a few things here or there that I need to do a little bit better in the matter of four days to get myself over the finish line.
THE MODERATOR: All right, we'll go right into questions.
Q. You played probably 15 through 18 in some of these conditions, how much of an advantage do you think it's going to be tomorrow for the players that don't catch this weather, and does it give you any confidence going into tomorrow given how well you played in this weather?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, I think I got a text while I was on the course saying we're going to 11:00 to 1:00 tee times in threes. So I think we're either all going to catch it or we're not going to catch it, based on it being a two-hour tee off window.
Q. 18th hole obviously can be very tough hole. How do you approach that hole and what's your strategy on it?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: I think, depending upon which way you shape the golf ball and where the wind is, for me personally I like having sort of the shortest club in. It's a pretty daunting green. It doesn't look too crazy from the fairway, but once you get on it you start to realize that the ball doesn't want to stay on the surface in certain areas. So a much easier green to hit with an 8- or 9-iron versus a 6-iron. To those back pins I think it's okay to sort of hit 3-wood off the tee but to the front ones I'm probably going to push driver up as far as I can to have a shorter club in.
Q. Coming off of you had a few good finishes last few starts on TOUR, obviously taking last week off. What are the areas you're most focused in the game right now as we really do approach a critical stretch here going into the summer?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, I would say trying to stay on top of ball striking. I don't think I've putted very well and the short game's been a little hit or miss depending upon which week it is. So like I said earlier, just sort of trying to find a way to get everything to kind of click at the same time. I think if I think of the stretches we got majors and then big Signature Events sort of scattered all sort of stacked, I should say. They're all very demanding properties, and they all demand pretty much every part of your game to be good if you want to win. So it really is, I think if you look at most guys out there, they're just trying to work on everything, everything and anything they can to get as comfortable and confident as possible.
Q. Obviously Rory plays well at a lot of places, he seems to play particularly well here. You had a firsthand seat I guess to it a couple years ago in the final round. Why do you think it plays so well to his strengths?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Thanks for the reminder, I just recovered (smiling).
Q. I'm sorry about that.
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: No, I'm fine. No, I mean, he hits -- you know, I think at Augusta it was impressive display. His best club was his worst club, and he still won the tournament. That's a little scary, obviously, if you're competing against him. That being his driver. But a week like this week usually he's hitting his driver on most holes and it's his best club in his bag most times. It's a nice thing to watch him hit driver and it's definitely a good property to be able to fly it about 330 yards on.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports