2021 PGA Championship: Top 10 power rankings at Kiawah Island

Xander Schauffele is the top-ranked American without a major championship.

It’s not for a lack of opportunities. He’s thrown himself into the fire on several occasions, most notably at Augusta National. Schauffele played bridesmaid to Tiger Woods in 2019 with a T-2nd finish and couldn’t catch Hideki Matsuyama this year on the way to T-3rd.

In total at the majors, the X Man owns 14 made cuts in 15 tries. The one MC came in his third start and first PGA Championship in 2017. Schauffele has a whopping eight top-10s. One came at the 2020 PGA where he took T-10th at TPC Harding Park. He was in the mix on Sunday on a very crowded leaderboard.

The Californian has laid low since the Masters. His only start since was T-14th a couple weeks ago at Quail Hollow, which hosted the 2017 PGA Championship.

Schauffele racked up two T-2nd finishes this year during the West Coast swing.

He’s only missed one stroke play cut in his last 18 tries. Consistency epitomized.

It’s all about turning those good rounds into wins. The San Diego State alum won three times soon after college but none since the 2019 Tournament of Champions.

Schauffele has the game to contend on any course layout. He ranks second on the PGA Tour in total strokes gained (1.89) and is in the top 50 in each of the specific SG categories.

Schauffele is 26th in driving distance (306.3), so no worries about hanging in at a long test like the Ocean course. He’s also first in sand saves (69.35%) and par-5 scoring (4.42).