2021 BMW Championship: Top 10 power rankings at Caves Valley

Xander Schauffele factored through about 60 holes or so at The Northern Trust. He wasn’t able to sprint through the finish line, though I’d still be a little absentminded if I won a gold medal a few weeks ago as he did.

Schauffele hung on to finish T-16th and keep himself high on the FedEx Cup points list. He shot 62 on Friday and held a share of the Liberty National course record… for a day.

Cameron Smith shot 60 on Saturday.

Like Tony Finau, who recently ended a five-year win drought, Schauffele’s Tokyo triumph ended a two-and-a-half-year skid.

Schauffele is a newbie to Caves Valley like most are this week. He’s no stranger to succeeding in the playoffs.

In just his second year on the PGA Tour, Schauffele won his second event of the season at the Tour Championship, nearly taking the FedEx Cup title in the process.

The X Man shot the low gross score at the 2020 Tour Championship but settled for T-2nd on the net leaderboard used to determine the FedEx Cup champion.

The 27-year-old is one of the steadiest players in the world and a reliable favorite for DFS players. Schauffle ranks fifth on the PGA Tour in total strokes gained (1.644). He’s no worse than 70th in any strokes gained category, making him a chameleon for different course types.

Schauffele is fairly straight off the tee and should be able to minimize his hacks out of the supposedly thick rough at Caves Valley.