Coming into any major, the defending champion is almost always at the top of mind for golf fans and media. In the days leading up to the 2025 PGA Championship at Quail Hollow, that doesn’t seem to be the case.
Rory McIlroy is being followed by talks of a calendar grand slam after his epic victory at The Masters, while Scottie Scheffler finally got back in the winner’s circle with an incredible 31-under-par performance at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson.
On the other hand, Xander Schauffele is out of the national discussion despite winning not one, but two majors in 2024. Heading into the first major title defense, the champion at Valhalla in 2024 is flying completely under the radar.
“I apologize for not talking more about Xander,” ESPN golf analyst and two-time major champion Curtis Strange said in a media call ahead of the PGA Championship. “We always go through this phone call twice a year and we don’t talk about somebody enough, and Xander is that guy today. I personally think he’s probably healthy. I also think coming off the year last year, it’s understandable and human to have a bit of a letdown. That coupled with the injury.
“He got a little bit behind the 8-ball this year, but I think he’s playing well now. He has to get the mojo back.”
That was the first mention of Schauffele on that media call, an hour in just before things wrapped up. For a defending champion who was unquestionably one of the four biggest stars in golf last year, he is almost invisible in the lead-up to one of the biggest events of the year.
In some ways, that makes sense. The 31-year old struggled with a rib injury at the start of the season that caused him to miss about two months of action including multiple signature events. He returned at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in early March but wasn’t near the top of the leaderboard there or at The Players Championship the following week.
Meanwhile, the biggest stars in golf outshined everyone else in a way that made it impossible to focus on anything else.
McIlroy’s historic win at Augusta National put to bed more than a decade of discourse and instantly became the biggest moment in professional golf since Tiger Woods‘ return to glory in 2019. Scheffler’s shocking winless streak hung over his start to the season until he put together four of the best rounds you’ll see in Texas.
Quietly, however, Schauffele has found some form of late. He has finished in the top 20 in each of his last four starts, all against quality fields, including a T-8 at The Masters. The American is starting to look healthy and it would be no surprise to see him right up there at the top of the leaderboard on the weekend.
“I just assume Xander is a factor any week he turns up because he’s that good a player,” ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt said. “But what I don’t know is sort of where is he sort of health-wise, game-wise relative to where he was prior to this issue. And again, that’s something only he truly knows, and maybe he’s fully past it.”
Schauffele has still been one of the best iron players in the world this season — currently sitting fourth in strokes gained approach — but the rest of his game has been somewhat rusty.
If he can get that squared away, everyone will be talking about Schauffele by week’s end.
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