Xander Schauffele labels Arnold Palmer Invitational as “tough place” ahead of return to PGA Tour action

Xander Schauffele finished T25 during the 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational after firing a score of 70 in the final round.

Xander Schauffele labels Arnold Palmer Invitational as “tough place” ahead of return to PGA Tour action

Xander Schauffele (Image via X)

The 2025 Arnold Palmer Invitational will see some of the top names in golf go against each other in a limited field. One of them who will be teeing up this week is Xander Schauffele. Ahead of his return to PGA Tour action, the golfer labeled his event as a “tough place”.

The World No.3 has been out of action since January. After taking part in the season opener, The Sentry and the TGL, the 31-year-old suffered a rib injury. He would thus miss some big events as he sat on the sidelines.

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Schauffele returned to golfing action this week during the TGL. He took part in his team’s 10-6 win over Rory McIlroy‘s Boston Common Golf and helped them qualify for the playoffs. His appearance at the Bay Hill Club & Lodge in Orlando, Florida will be just his 2nd start of the year.

Speaking in the press conference before the tournament, the 2-time major champion made an honest admission and expressed that this event was not a “dream” place for him to return.

It’s not the, I wouldn’t call it like the dream place to come back to, to be completely honest, on short reps, I’m going to have to go to a special place mentally. Everyone kind of knows what Bay Hill gives you, it takes a lot more than it gives, and you have to earn every par or birdie or bogey that you make. It’s a tough place.

Xander Schauffele said in the Arnold Palmer Invitational press conference

Schauffele will be making his 4th start in the Arnold Palmer Invitational this year. He has a couple of top-25 finishes in this tournament with one of them coming last year.

After shooting scores of 72 and 70 in the first two rounds and making the cut, he posted a score of 76 in the third round. He eventually bounced back from this disappointment and scored 70 in the final round to finish even par for the tournament and jump up 19 positions in the leaderboard while finishing T25.

Xander Schauffele calls himself a “toddler” for ignoring his health issues in absence of trainer

During the press conference on Wednesday, Xander Schauffele opened up about his injury. While doing so he called himself a “toddler” for ignoring his health issues in the absence of his trainer.

Xander Schauffele
Xander Schauffele (Image via The Independent)

After a breakout year where he won two major championships, Schauffele suffered some problems during the month of December. With his trainer away from him due to some personal reasons, the golfer kept on training and golfing. Eventually, this led to a major damage to his ribs which caused him to miss out several weeks of action.

There were some (alarm) bells that I ignored… Trainer had to go back, renew his visa. I was left on my own and, apparently, I’m still a toddler. I kept training and golfing. I’m used to having someone either hold my hand or do something as simple as soft tissue. I didn’t get any help, and I think that is sort of what put my back against the wall.

Xander Schauffele told the reporters during the Arnold Palmer Invitational press conference

For the first two rounds, Schauffele has been paired with fellow 2-time major champion Justin Thomas. Meanwhile, defending champion Scottie Scheffler will play alongside rising star Ludvig Aberg, who won the previous signature event of the tour, the Genesis Invitational at the Torrey Pines course.