PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – As far as epic post-round range sessions go, Scottie Scheffler’s effort in a pouring rain looking for answers following an even-par 72 on Thursday is the best in class this week at The Players Championship.
But if results are the measure, Xander Schauffele’s twilight session following an equally annoying first round paid the greatest dividends.
Unhappy with a balky driver that found just 5 of 14 fairways in the first round at TPC Sawgrass, Schauffele huddled with swing coach Chris Como on the range as dusk settled over north Florida searching for answers. The turnaround Friday was dramatic, with Schauffele finding all 14 fairways and picking up two-and-a-half shots on the field in strokes gained off the tee, which was three strokes better than his opening-round effort.
“I saw Chris last night just for a little bit, about 7:30 before the sun went down, and tried to get some sort of feel to go with,” Schauffele said. “I felt like it was close. I hit a lot of really good iron shots yesterday, and if I’m doing that, I know the driver and sort of longer stuff isn’t too far off.”
Schauffele’s round-of-the-day 65 lifted him into the lead at 10 under par thanks to a birdie-birdie finish that included a 38-foot putt at the par-3 eighth hole.
Players finding something on the range after a poor round is nothing new, but it is worth noting that Schauffele has tinkered with the way Como and the rest of his team feed him information.
“I try to get spoon-fed some information from my team. I ask them to spoon-feed it to me versus kind of just giving me too much info,” he said. “I feel like I want the information and I feel like I can take it, but I don’t think I can always take it.”
Schauffele was in a similar position at the PGA Tour’s flagship event in 2024 after opening rounds of 65-69 but finished runner-up to Scottie Scheffler. He also finished runner-up in 2018 in his first Players Championship start.