April 8, 2025
Coming off the season Xander Schauffele had in 2024, the beginning of this year hasn't been as smooth or dominant as many expected. A nagging rib injury kept him out for two months, and after making just three starts since his return to golf before this week, he'll tee it up on Thursday with seemingly more questions than answers. The rust that developed over his layoff is most evident in his putting and chipping, as he's averaging negative averages in both strokes gained metrics since his return. It was intriguing to see him gain more than 11 shots on approach at the Valspar, but he'll certainly need a more complete game to contend at Augusta National. He's still the third-best golfer on the planet right now, and he's undoubtedly been preparing for this week away from the spotlight. At $11,600 on FanDuel, he is still a fine play on pure talent and course history alone. However, he doesn't possess the same "must-have" feel he would have had five months ago.
--Todd McGill - RotoBallerSource: PGA Tour
March 17, 2025
Xander Schauffele finished 72nd at The PLAYERS Championship last week and is now focusing on preparing for this week's Valspar Championship, which will be held at Innisbrook Resort. He is still recovering from a rib injury that caused him to miss the beginning of the 2025 season and is gradually regaining his form. Over the past 12 months, Schauffele ranks in the 96th percentile for greens in regulation percentage on approach shots from 150-200 yards in the fairway. This is noteworthy because, at last year's Valspar Championship, 37% of approach shots were from this distance. Although Schauffele has had a slow start to the 2025 season, he could be a valuable addition to DFS lineups this week.
--Ian Christenson - RotoBallerSource: Data Golf
March 11, 2025
It certainly wasn't a week worth remembering at Bay Hill for Xander Schauffele. The 31-year-old returned from a two-month absence to finish T40 at one of the tougher venues on the PGA Tour. While the finish may not be what is expected of the reigning PGA and Open Champion, making it through the week unscathed should feel like somewhat of a victory. It isn't like his game is that far off, either. The world no. three finished the week with an average of +0.57 strokes gained on approach (ranked 20th in the field) and +0.20 in strokes gained off the tee. Touch and feel on and around the greens is clearly a sore spot, but a player of Schauffele's caliber will likely knock the rust off fairly quickly. Still, given the strength of the field and the demanding nature of the Stadium Course, it's unlikely that he will produce enough to justify his hefty DFS price tag.
--Todd McGill - RotoBallerSource: Data Golf
March 5, 2025
After a ho-hum finish at Kapalua to start the year, the golf game has been on the shelf for Xander Schauffele as the reigning PGA and Open Champion has been dealing with a nagging rib injury ever since. Forcing him to miss playing some personally meaningful tournaments, like the two events at Torrey Pines and Pebble Beach. It's impossible to dismiss someone of Schauffele's pedigree, but a slow start to ease back into the swing of things would be completely understandable. He's never performed that well at Bay Hill to begin with, averaging -0.119 strokes gained on approach and -0.070 in strokes gained around the green over his last 12 rounds. Both should be equally important this week and will give us a sense of what/how much he's been able to practice during his time off. At $12,000 on FanDuel, the X-man is too expensive to take a chance on until we see where his game is.
--Todd McGill - RotoBallerSource: PGA Tour
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