“He’s way too stoic” – Xander Schauffele reflects on PGA Tour rival’s worrying rough stretch continuing at the Olympics
Olympics: Golf-Mens Stroke Play Round 2 – Source: Imagn
Xander Schauffele ( USA Today Sports via IMAGN)
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Xander Schauffele joined the press conference after the second round of the Olympics and shared his thoughts about PGA opponent Viktor Hovland’s rough patch, which has continued at the Olympics. Hovland won the Tour Championship last year and became the FedEx Cup winner with scores of 68-64-66-63.
Following this, the Norwegian achieved a top-ten finish at the Hero World Challenge. However, his form didn’t continue this year. He missed the cut in three Majors and had only one top-ten finish at the PGA Championship. Apart from that, his form remained subpar throughout the year.
Furthermore, Hovland’s rough patch has continued to trouble him during the Olympics. In the opening round, he shot three birdies to land at 70. In the next round, he bogeyed four holes and double-bogeyed one hole to land at 75. His total is 3-over 145 and sits at 54th place. Reflecting on Hovland’s form, Xander Schauffele, who’s tied atop the leaderboard with Tommy Fleetwood and Hideki Matsuyama, had something to say.
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“It’s just golf. He’ll figure it out. He’s way too stoic, I guess, and too good at golf. I’ve played with Hovi; all of us have played worse or better. I’ve played with him at his best. It’s special…So now is now, and in two or three months, or hopefully in the next couple of weeks for him, he’ll figure it out. But I don’t think anybody is going to worry about him,” Xander Schauffele said.
Xander Schauffele showed confidence in Viktor Hovland and stated how Hovland would manage the situation on his own given he’s a good golfer.
Xander Schauffele narrates his deal with the ants at the Olympics
After round two, Schauffele went on to describe how he noticed ants at the Olympics. He saw them at the back of his ball and how he handled the situation.
“I’m taking practice swings and I’m trying to get to my ball and I can’t even — what’s going on, something is behind my ball. I went down and saw a pile, so I called an official. It was just ants. It was a pile of ants, an ant pile, or whatever you want to call it, and their home; so I didn’t want to mess with it,” Schauffele said.
He continued, “I didn’t feel too threatened by the ants. I don’t think they have fire ants. I’m not too sure to be completely honest…I got a second opinion and the guys said I could not move the grass but use my tee to move the ants.”
Xander Schauffele currently sits atop the leaderboard with 11-under. In both the first and second rounds, Schauffele made seven birdies and landed at 66-67 after the end of two rounds.
Edited by Partha Sarathi Banerjee
