There’s ‘nothing worse’ than what Xander Schauffele is going through right now

What a difference a year makes.

Xander Schauffele stamped himself as one of the premier players in golf in 2024 when he captured his first two majors with wins at the PGA Championship and British Open.

His 2025 season has been one of frustration — and is now ending early. Schauffele finished outside the top 30 and failed to qualify for the Tour Championship in East Lake this week for the first time in his career.

“There’s nothing worse than trying your hardest and playing like ass,” Schauffele told reporters after finishing tied for 28th at the BMW Championship on Sunday.

“It’s the worst combo. Some of us do it, some of us don’t. It’s been a while since I have, and I did it for a few weeks now, and it sucked.”

Schauffele, 31, is the third-ranked golfer in the world behind Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy, so finishing 42nd in the FedEx Cup standings is a significant step below his standards even with a slew of solid results.

The biggest falloff came on the green, where he went from 12th in strokes gained putting last season to 131st in 2025.

Schauffele made the cut at all four majors, finishing no worse than 28th. However, he did not have a single top five in any of the 15 events he played.

“At some point I’m going to sit back and reflect and try and learn something from it,” said Schauffele, who missed two months at the start of the season with a rib injury.

“Yeah, it was mentally a long season for me even though it was short. So, physically I feel a lot better, which is a plus. No sort of recurring injury, which is a plus. About the only positives I can think of so far.”

Schauffele will now wait until he, along with much of the US Ryder Cup team, is expected to play the Procore Championship in the second week of September.

Schauffele is one of the six players guaranteed a spot on the US team, though his frustration of late makes him far from a sure thing to secure points against a stacked European squad.