Xander Schauffele Fires Incredible 29 on Second Day of CJ Cup

Xander Schauffele is off to a great start in the second round of the CJ Cup.

We’ve seen both the good and the bad at the CJ Cup. Luckily for Xander Schauffele, he has started off the second round in spectacular style.

His start is more in line with the way that Tyrrell Hatton played on Thursday. The complete opposite of how Matthew Wolff finished out his round to start the CJ Cup.

There was a moment for Xander Schauffele where it looked like his luck was about to run out to start the second round. He started on the back nine and was doing great. We will get to that in a minute though. The trouble, or what looked to be trouble, occurred on the par 3 17th hole.

More from Pro Golf Now

• Golf Rumors: LIV set to sign Masters Champion in stunning deal
• Fantasy Golf: Grant Thornton Invitational DFS Player Selections
• Brutal return leaves Will Zalatoris looking towards 2024
• Stars You Know at World Champions Cup Starts Thursday at Concession
• Fantasy Golf: An Early Look at the 2024 Masters Tournament

He blasted his tee shot past the green, nearly missing staying in play. He was behind the flag and to the left, up near the water, nearly going into the hazard. With the pin tucked in the back corner and not much room to work with, you could easily see a position like this causing you to have to chip on safely, and then two-putt for a bogey.

Do you know what a good way to avoid this is? Don’t putt at all, and just chip it into the hole for another birdie, which is exactly what he would go on to do.

Amazingly, this would make it five straight birdies for Schauffele, birdieing 13-17, getting to -6 on the day, and taking the lead at that point in time. He would be all the way to -12 on the tournament and finding himself with a four-shot lead early on in the second round.

His scoring started on the 11th hole, a short par 4. He nearly drove the green, finding himself in the greenside rough. Knocking his chip to just three feet, it would be a short birdie to get him back on the scoreboard.

He must like the three-foot birdie looks, as he put his tee shot on the par 3 13th hole to that same number, and would have another short birdie look. This would be the start of a great birdie run by Schauffele. The next hole was a much tougher look, but a 26-foot putt was nothing as he banged it home for his second birdie in a row.

Do you know what’s better than a 26-footer? How about a 37-footer, which is what he would make on the 15th hole today for his third straight birdie.

On the par 5 16th, Schauffele would have a 45-footer… that he hit fairly poorly, leaving a 7-footer for birdie. No problem though, as he would make it once again.

Check back at the top of the article for his chip in on the 17th hole, and that’s how Schauffele got to -6 through eight holes of golf, taking a massive lead early on in the tournament.

He would cap off his first nine (remember, he started on the 10th hole), at the par-5 18th hole. It’s an intimidating hole, even to pros. Your tee shot has to cross over the water and then land in the fairway before rolling into a large farside bunker. Schauffele did just that, ending up in the sand. It wouldn’t get any easier, as the next shot needs to carry the water and potentially a bunker from 200 to get to the green.

He would smartly lay-up, sitting 100 yards out, looking to go up and down from there to keep the birdie train rolling. With a look from 13 feet… BANG! Six straight birdies. He would shoot -7 on that side, turning in an incredible 29.

Keep an eye on Xander Schauffele and the rest of the golfers at the CJ Cup as their rounds progress throughout the afternoon.