Xander Schauffele will probably be thinking that if he can get the better of Rory McIlroy this week at the Truist Championship, he will have a very good chance of winning the tournament.
It seemed Schauffele was pulling away from McIlroy in 2024, when the American won two major championships and with the Northern Irishman without one for 10 years at the time.
However, the Northern Irishman has completely turned the tables on the American over the past 15 months or so.
Rory McIlroy is now a six-time major champion after winning back-to-back Masters titles, and he has added four PGA Tour wins to his résumé since the start of the 2025 season.
During that time, Xander Schauffele has failed to win a major and has just one PGA Tour victory to his name.
Schauffele and McIlroy get paired together on the PGA Tour fairly regularly, due to their marquee status in the game.
As a result, the 2024 Open champion probably knows McIlroy’s game as well as anybody.
And there is one thing about the six-time major champion’s ability that genuinely scares Schauffele.
Xander Schauffele admits what he finds a ‘little scary’ about Rory McIlroy
Schauffele addressed the media at Quail Hollow on Wednesday ahead of the start of the Truist Championship.
The 32-year-old Californian responded when asked what impresses him most about McIlroy when he watches him up close and personal.
“I mean, he hits — you know, I think at Augusta it was an impressive display,“ the 32-year-old said.
“His best club was his worst club, and he still won the tournament. That’s a little scary, obviously, if you’re competing against him.
“That being his driver. But a week like this week usually he’s hitting his driver on most holes and it’s his best club in his bag most times.
“It’s a nice thing to watch him hit driver and it’s definitely a good property to be able to fly it about 330 yards on.“
Xander Schauffele reveals what he has been working on during time off
Schauffele responded when asked by one reporter if he has been focusing on improving one particular department of his game.
“Yeah, I would say trying to stay on top of ball striking,“ the two-time major champion admitted.
“I don’t think I’ve putted very well and the short game’s been a little hit or miss depending upon which week it is.
“So like I said earlier, just sort of trying to find a way to get everything to kind of click at the same time. I think if I think of the stretches where we’ve got majors and then big Signature Events sort of scattered, all sort of stacked, I should say.
“They’re all very demanding properties, and they all demand pretty much every part of your game to be good if you want to win.
“So it really is, I think if you look at most guys out there, they’re just trying to work on everything, everything and anything they can to get as comfortable and confident as possible.“
