Xander Schauffele issues positive health update ahead of Players Championship

World No. 2 Xander Schauffele made his first start in over two months at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Xander Schauffele did not contend at the Arnold Palmer Invitational this week, but at least he feels healthy again.

The World No. 2 suffered a rib injury towards the end of 2024, and tried to play through the pain at the beginning of January at The Sentry in Maui. But after that start, Schauffele decided that he needed to rest and rehab before the crux of the season. He subsequently missed two months before returning to action at Bay Hill this week, where he finished at 4-over par for the championship.

He did shoot a 3-under 69 on Sunday, though, his best round of the week. After the final round, Schauffele spoke with the PGA Tour’s Paul Hodowanic about the state of his health and game.

“That was the biggest thing. That’s probably the biggest win of the week,” Schauffele said.

“Not being able to play enough golf coming in here, was rolling the dice a little bit. All scans were clean, but super happy with how I feel. Definitely, with the added golf didn’t feel any strain or any worse, so that’s a big bonus.”

Schauffele will play at The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass this week. Depending on how his rib feels, he may play at the Valspar Championship the following week but he has not yet committed to it. If he does, it would mark three straight weeks of competition. But if Schauffele opts to take next week off and rest, he may play at the Valero Texas Open, which falls the week before The Masters. He wants as many reps as he can before returning to Augusta National in April.

“I’m trying to convince myself to be in a good spot mentally regardless,” Schauffele added.

“I can’t sit all year long and feel sorry for myself like, oh, you know, I’m just rusty, I haven’t played. That stuff doesn’t matter in any sport, so it is what it is, and I’m gonna have to sort of pick up the pace.”

Understandably, Schauffele struggled during the first three rounds but still managed to make the cut, extending an impressive streak to 58 made cuts in a row. It’s the longest active streak on the PGA Tour and the second-longest over the past 30 years: Tiger Woods made 142 straight from 1998 to 2005

“[My caddie Austin] was telling me this is probably the hardest place you can come back to out of any tournament, all year round,” Schauffele said.

“So happy to make the cut and get four rounds of golfing and feel good.”

Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Follow him on X @jack_milko.