MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Professional golfers are used to defeat but Xander Schauffele said his final-round performance at the Olympic golf tournament left him feeling different than other times when he failed to produce on the final day.
The two-time major winner who was in contention to win a gold medal for the second straight Olympics fell off the pace during the final round at Le Golf National, the only player among the top 10 who shot over par.
Scottie Scheffler, who shot a final-round 62, won the tournament, with Tommy Fleetwood taking the silver medal and Hideki Matsuyama earning bronze.
All of them are in the field for this week’s FedEx St. Jude Championship, the first of three FedEx Cup playoff events.
And Schauffele admitted he’s tried to shake off the final-day woes and get back to the golfer who just a few weeks prior won the British Open at Royal Troon, his second major title of the year after capturing the PGA Championship in May.
“I take pride in finishing strong, and to do that was I was pretty bummed out,” said Schauffele, whose final-round 72 dropped him into a tie for ninth. “I went from thinking I could have a good look at gold to maybe silver, then to bronze, and then to, ‘wow, I'm just spectating now.’ That's sort of what happened the last seven, eight holes of that tournament.
“So that was a bit of a bummer, especially with how the fans were out there. It must have been such a cool feeling to be in the hunt with important shots coming down that stretch, (holes) 15 to 18.
“I sat down with (coach) Chris (Como) already, sort of identified what happened. I don't want to get back into my old habits that I've been trying to get out of in these last two or three months working with him, and I think some old ones sort of slipped in there. When I tried to put my foot down, it got worse, and I paid the price for it heavily.”
Schauffele enters the FedEx Cup playoffs second in the points behind Scheffler, whom he will play with for the first two rounds at TPC Southwind.
“It's weird; I'm not going to lie,” Schauffele said. “It's the weirdest feeling. I was watching from the sort of family section, the podium, and when Scottie was up there and our (USA) flag was raised and he started crying up there, I was butt-hurt about my own round, and then I was sitting there like, yeah, this is pretty cool.
“I can be rational most times, but I felt so emotional in that state to where I was butt-hurt about how I played and then sort of proud and happy that Scottie won it. It's such a ... it's hard to explain, the swing of it. Then out here this week playing with him these next two days and we're all just trying to beat our heads in. It's a funny feeling.”
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Xander Schauffele Admits Olympic Disappointment: ‘I Was Pretty Bummed Out’.
