Xander Schauffele faced a challenging start at the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP, giving an honest account of his struggles, particularly on the 9th hole. After a steady beginning, Schauffele found himself in trouble when his tee shot landed in the trees, forcing him into a difficult situation.
Despite having a solid performance for most of the day, he attempted to play out of the trees multiple times, ultimately leading to a quadruple bogey 8.
Reflecting on the incident, Schauffele described himself as “stubborn” and “overconfident,” admitting that his decision-making went awry. “I thought at worst I would hit the ball, hit the tree and go somewhere,” he noted, but the reality was much worse. The error was particularly surprising given his track record for avoiding bogeys in recent tournaments.
After escaping the trees on his sixth shot, he managed to reach the green but only made one birdie on the back nine, finishing the round at +3.
Now sitting ten shots behind leader Taylor Moore, Schauffele is eager to turn things around in round two, teeing off at 9:07 am local time. He’ll be looking to bounce back and regain his momentum in the tournament.
