Xander Schauffele speaks to the media forward of the 2024 FedEx St. Jude Championship.
James Gilbert/PGA TOUR by way of Getty Pictures
The Olympic Video games appeared to scramble the brains of professional golfers concerned within the thrilling competitors at Le Golf Nationwide. Used to enjoying for cash and themselves, golf’s greatest had been thrown into the place of enjoying for his or her international locations and no cash in any respect (no less than a few of them). The expertise drew out some surprising reactions and feelings from the PGA Tour’s greatest. Simply ask Xander Schauffele.
Schauffele, who captured his second of two 2024 majors simply earlier than the Olympics, was trying to find his second-straight Olympic gold medal till a poor end dropped him out of medal rivalry totally. He may solely watch as his probabilities light away and Scottie Scheffler made his golden cost within the last spherical.
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Talking to reporters on Tuesday forward of the FedEx St. Jude Championship, Schauffele made it clear that regardless of all his success this season, his Sunday swoon at Le Golf Nationwide two weeks in the past nonetheless bothered him.
“I take delight in ending sturdy, and to try this was — I used to be fairly bummed out. I went from pondering I may have an excellent have a look at gold to possibly silver, then to bronze, after which to, wow, I’m simply spectating now,” Schauffele defined. “That’s form of what occurred the final seven, eight holes of that match. In order that was a little bit of a bummer, particularly with how the followers had been on the market.”
Shortly after Scheffler had polished off his gold-medal victory, a self-described “butt-hurt” Schauffele determined to stay round for the medal ceremony. Scheffler, gold medal round his neck, notably obtained emotional when the U.S. Nationwide Anthem performed over the loud audio system.
He wasn’t the one one. On Tuesday, Schauffele revealed that on the identical time he was fuming over his unhealthy end, as soon as the American flag was raised in Scheffler’s honor he abruptly felt an emotional swing within the different path, filling up with delight and happiness for the World No. 1 who, regardless of having simply crushed Schauffele, was finally on the identical workforce as him in Paris.
“It’s bizarre; I’m not going to lie. It’s the weirdest feeling. I used to be watching from the form of household part, the rostrum, and when Scottie was up there and our flag was raised and he began crying up there, I used to be butt-hurt about my very own spherical, after which I used to be sitting there like, yeah, that is fairly cool,” Schauffele tried to clarify.
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He continued, “I’d prefer to assume I’m not — I will be rational most occasions, however I felt so emotional in that state to the place I used to be butt-hurt about how I performed after which sorta proud and comfortable that Scottie gained it. It’s such a — it’s laborious to clarify, the swing of it. Then out right here this week enjoying with him these subsequent two days and we’re all simply attempting to beat our heads in. It’s a humorous feeling.”
When requested if the delight he felt was influenced by his personal gold-medal victory on the Tokyo Olympics, Schauffele recognized a distinct supply.
“I’m unsure. I believe it’s simply being American. You see your flag being raised and your Nationwide Anthem performed, and also you’re sitting there form of buzzing it in your head, and also you get that form of feeling that we don’t actually get too usually anymore.”
For now, Schauffele is again to enjoying for himself. He begins the FedEx Cup Playoffs in second place behind Scheffler, with a $25 million bonus on the road.
However shortly thereafter, on the finish of September, Schauffele will placed on some new pink, white and blue gear because the U.S. workforce takes on the Worldwide workforce on the 2024 Presidents Cup in Canada.
