2022 Players Championship: Top 10 power rankings at TPC Sawgrass

The Players Championship is a tough tournament for first-timers. Xander Schauffele didn’t get the memo in 2018.

At age 24, he finished T-2nd (68-68-71-67) thanks to an expert ball-striking week. He hit 66.07% fairways and 72.22% greens in regulation. His 274 aggregate score would have won the Players all but one time between 2011-2017.

The mercurial nature of the Players Championship reared its head for Schauffele as he posted 70-74 to miss the cut by one in 2019.

The former San Diego State Aztec hit 13 greens on the way to shooting 70 in round one of the canceled 2020 edition.

Scores of 76-72 in 2021 weren’t enough to stick around, either.

Fortunately, Schauffele is in solid enough form to try to right the ship at this event.

He comes in off a couple weeks of rest after earning T-13th at the Genesis Invitational. That was X’s third worldwide top-20 in a row and fifth in the last six events.

Schauffele is one of the game’s more well-rounded players, which seems suitable for an all-encompassing test of golf Pete Dye provides.

The 28-year-old ranks 11th on the PGA Tour in total strokes gained (1.511) and is 53rd or better in each SG category.

Schauffele is second in sand saves (77.78%), seventh in approach from 125-150 yards (18’2”), and fourth in approach from 175-200 (27’6”).

“I think that it really speaks to your whole bag. You can’t really kind of hide any weakness out here,” Schauffele was transcribed by ASAP Sports in 2021. “You can hit the ball great all day, putt really well and then struggle with chipping. Or you can kind of hit it bad, hit your irons great, hit it bad off the tee and hit your irons great and putt and chip very well and you’re just not going to put it together.”