Still not 100%, Xander Schauffele opens in 65 at The American Express

LA QUINTA, Calif. – Xander Schauffele admits he doesn’t feel 100%, returning to action at The American Express after withdrawing from the Sentry Tournament of Champions two weeks ago with a back injury.

“Right now, it’s a little sporadic,” Schauffele said Thursday. “Bad swings don’t feel great. Good swings don’t feel bad at all.”

Fortunately, he made plenty of good swings in his competitive return.

Schauffele opened The American Express with a 7-under 65 Thursday at La Quinta CC, three back of leader Davis Thompson, who carded 10-under 62, also at La Quinta. The American Express features a three-course rotation across La Quinta CC and PGA West’s Nicklaus Tournament Course and Stadium Course; Sunday’s final round will be played at the Stadium Course.

Playing alongside good friend and Presidents Cup partner Patrick Cantlay, Schauffele rebounded from his only bogey of the day at No. 2 with six birdies and an eagle the rest of the way. He credited tee-shot control on a tree-lined La Quinta layout for his good play; he hit 10 of 14 fairways on the day.

After withdrawing from the Sentry on the ninth hole of the second round – “flinching at drives and chunking irons,” he said at the time – Schauffele returned home and underwent scans and an MRI to diagnose the back pain, a first in his career, which initially arose at the Hero World Challenge in December.

The diagnosis was muscular – no tear – with a straightforward recovery plan of rest to overcome soreness. That’s easier said than done, of course.

“Trying to be as patient as possible to take things as slow as possible in terms of getting too many reps in,” Schauffele said in Wednesday’s pre-tournament press conference. “But I'm known to try to practice too much at times. I'm trying to take this one slow, so I don’t hurt it again or do something of that nature.”

Schauffele didn’t want to rush back to action, but he didn’t want to stay idle for long. It was a wait-and-see approach into the week.

Thursday morning, he was ready to roll.

“I always joke with my wife, saying I’m a very day-to-day person, and it was testing my patience with the whole day-to-day,” Schauffele said Thursday. “Some days I’d feel 4 or 5 out of 10, and I’d be like, ‘You know, I’m like 50-50,’ because you just want to compete at a high level when you do play, and you never want to show up with sort of half your game.

“I wouldn’t say I’m at 100% … a lot of it is mental at this point. As soon as you feel some sort of tweak or injury, it becomes very mental, and you have to combat that as well. Just trying to be really committed, knowing that I have a really good team surrounding me, and I trust everyone that’s giving me the advice that they’re giving.”

And with more rounds like Thursday, all should be well.

“If I keep making good swings,” he said, “I should be good to go.”