Xander Schauffele may have returned to the winner’s circle on the PGA Tour – but he’s clearly still processing the Ryder Cup.
The US golfer captured his 10th win on the North American circuit in Japan over the weekend, firing a final-round 64 at Yokohama Country Club to win the Baycurrent Classic by one stroke from compatriot Max Gresyerman.
It represented Schauffele’s first victory since lifting the Claret Jug at last July’s Open Championship in Scotland.
Schauffele told reporters in the immediate aftermath of his latest triumph he did have some doubts about winning again after struggling for the majority of the season with a rib injury.
But on a personal note, he felt good about his game and saw signs at the Ryder Cup he would soon be firing on all cylinders.
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Ryder Cup 2025: US top point scorers
Player
Points
Matches
Overall
Singles
Foursomes
Fourballs
Sam Burns
1
3
0–1–2
0–0–1
0–0–0
0–1–1
Patrick Cantlay
1.5
5
1–3–1
0–1–0
1–1–0
0–1–1
Bryson DeChambeau
1.5
5
1–3–1
0–0–1
1–1–0
0–2–0
Harris English
0.5
2†
0–2–1
0–0–1
0–2–0
0–0–1
Ben Griffin
1
2
1–1–0
1–0–0
0–0–0
0–1–0
Russell Henley
0.5
3
0–2–1
0–0–0
0–2–0
0–0–0
Collin Morikawa
0.5
3
0–2–1
0–0–1
0–2–0
0–0–0
Xander Schauffele
3
4
3–1–0
1–0–0
1–1–0
1–0–0
Scottie Scheffler
1
5
1–4–0
1–0–0
0–2–0
0–2–0
J. J. Spaun
2
3
2–1–0
1–0–0
0–0–0
1–1–0
Justin Thomas
2
4
2–2–0
1–0–0
0–1–0
1–1–0
Cameron Young
3
4
3–1–0
1–0–0
1–0–0
1–1–0
Schauffele was one of Keegan Bradley’s stronger performers at Bethpage Black, going 3-1-0 overall.
His only defeat came in the third session, when the two-time major champ and Patrick Cantlay ended up losing 3&2 in the foursomes to formidable European duo Tyrrell Hatton and Jon Rahm.
The 31-year-old told reporters in Japan that he felt as though he let Cantlay down.
“I thought at the Ryder Cup I played pretty solid, I let Pat hang in our second alternate match or foursomes match, I played really poor there and let him down,” said Schauffele.
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“But the other rounds I felt like I was starting to kind of play some good golf. It’s very high stakes, high pressure golf and I started to hit some shots that I wasn’t really hitting throughout the year.
“I think the whole tournament, even though we lost, for me personally I was able to hit a few shots in high stakes moments that sort of gave me a little bit of confidence for sure.”
PGA Tour insider reveals why JJ Spaun didn’t play foursomes
The inquest into what went wrong for Keegan Bradley and the United States is ongoing.
Europe’s status guru, Edoardo Molinari, recently told Fried Egg Golf that he was surprised with some of Bradley’s decisions.
Molinari – who has also distanced himself from the European captaincy – also put forward his theory as to why the top-ranked Scottie Scheffler only delivered one point from five matches.
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Elsewhere, former PGA Tour member turned commentator Colt Knost has revealed he played golf with JJ Spaun a week before the Ryder Cup.
Knost said Spuan was informed he wouldn’t be playing foursomes as he was the only member of the US team that played a Srixon golf ball.
Schauffele weighs in on unruly Ryder Cup scenes
Before the Baycurrent Classic began, Collin Morikawa said some American fans at the Ryder Cup “probably crossed the line” with their abuse of the European team.
Europe’s 15-13 win came amid torrents of verbal abuse from the home crowd.
Masters champ Rory McIlroy – who recently touched down in India – was the primary target.
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His wife Erica was struck by a drinks cup thrown from the stands at Bethpage Black.
Schauffele also acknowledged unsavoury things were said. And he also revealed he was the target of some abuse.
“I really wish we could have played better to have them cheer for us a bit more,” said Schauffele.
“New York’s a tough place to play for anyone. I even got a few comments to play better.”
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