Last year, Xander Schauffele delivered one of the best seasons of his career, capturing two major championships and notching top-five finishes in all three FedExCup Playoff events. He wrapped up the season ranked fourth in the FedExCup standings and took home nearly $18 million in earnings! But unfortunately, this year has been a different story, and he will not be playing at the Tour Championship for the first time in his career.
Schauffele came into the week at Caves Valley hovering around the FedEx Cup bubble, sitting at 43rd in the standings. After a lackluster showing at the St. Jude Championship in Memphis, where he finished tied for 22nd, he needed a strong performance to keep his season alive. Instead, things took a further downturn at the BMW Championship. Despite closing with a solid 4-under 67 in the final round, Schauffele could only manage a T28 finish for the week, moving up by just a single rank in the FedEx Cup standings. When asked about how his putting held up on Sunday, Schauffele told the media about his mindset and the stakes—or lack thereof.
“Yeah, it wasn’t really going to do anything. Like I said, I’m just trying to get to a place mentally where I’m okay and trying to have fun. Today was trying to — it didn’t matter. I could have shot 59 and not gotten to next week. Pretty depressing to think of it like that, but that’s how I thought when I woke up, so I figured might as well have something different to look at and scare my old putter into working again at some point,” he reflected in a post-round press conference. His performance wasn’t enough to break into the coveted top 30, officially ending his run in the playoffs and dashing hopes of returning to the Tour Championship.
Now, with a few weeks off before the Ryder Cup preparations begin, Schauffele is contemplating teeing it up at the Procore Championship at Silverado Resort in Napa from September 11–14, not out of obligation, but to stay competitive. When asked if he was playing, Schauffele responded — “Yeah, I don’t know how many guys have signed up or not, but I wouldn’t say there’s an expectation for us to play, but a lot of us do want to play just to stay fresh, knock off some rust. I’ll have an even longer break, so we’ll see how that goes.”
Xander Schauffele will miss the TOUR Championship for the first time. Also snaps the longest active streak of reaching East Lake (8 years).
He was understandably disappointed.
“There’s nothing worse than trying your hardest and playing like ass. It’s the worst combo.” pic.twitter.com/KyqJ0mXHcc
— Paul Hodowanic (@PaulHodowanic) August 17, 2025
The Procore Championship will serve as a tune-up not just for Xander Schauffele but for several Ryder Cup prospects, and offers a much-needed chance to build momentum before the team competition kicks off. While the BMW Championship may have been a low point, Schauffele’s season isn’t quite over, and his focus remains firmly on the next challenge.
Xander Schauffele eyes Ryder Cup reset after draining season
The grind of 2025 showed in Xander Schauffele’s demeanor. Once a FedEx Cup staple, his season was marred by inconsistency—just three top-10s in 15 starts after a rib injury, though he stayed No. 3 in the OWGR. His best finish came at the Open Championship (T7), where Scottie Scheffler won his fourth major. Reflecting, Schauffele admitted, “At some point, I’m going to sit back and reflect and try and learn something from it. Yeah, it was mentally a long season for me even though it was short. So physically, I feel a lot better, which is a plus. No sort of recurring injury, which is a plus. About the only positives I can think of so far.”
With the Ryder Cup weeks away, the 31-year-old is turning his attention to the mental side. “(The preparation for the Ryder Cup will be) probably more mental than anything else… I feel like I just need to sort of reset a little bit, cool off a little bit, and just get back to a healthy mental place where I want to sit down and work really hard again. Right now I’m mentally a little tapped.”
He’s expected to take October and November off before a possible December return at Tiger Woods’ Hero World Challenge. If not, fans may have to wait until the 2026 PGA Tour season.
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