Xander Schauffele is one of the rare players who truly looks forward to the cold breezes and long rough of the PGA Tour's early West Coast swing.
So, when the San Diego native started feeling an issue with his side a few days before Christmas, he decided to continue working out even though his trainer was out of town renewing his visa. Schauffele was determined to get himself prepared for the start of the 2025 season.
"It was a kind of perfect storm," he said on Wednesday. "I was left on my own and apparently I'm still a toddler.
"I kept training and golfing and training and golfing, and I'm used to having someone either hold my hand or do something as simple as soft tissue. I didn't get any help and I think that is sort of what put my back against the wall."
That included flying to Maui for the season-opening The Sentry, convinced he could work through the discomfort even without his team around. Schauffele tied for 30th, then flew to Florida to play in the inaugural TGL match.
Xander Schauffele about his injury return: 🏥
— Xander Schauffele Legion (@XanderLegion) March 5, 2025
"I'm not really too concerned right now, to be honest. I feel like I've been pretty conservative with everything. Hopefully that pays off. If things go south, I won't be scared to back off.. what's down the road is more important." pic.twitter.com/3xNh4D9VXN
That would prove to be the last time we've seen Schauffele compete until this week's Arnold Palmer Invitational. He missed the entire West Coast swing, including two events at his favoured Torrey Pines in San Diego, after being diagnosed with an intercostal strain – a small tear in the rib cartilage on his right side.
The downtime was especially difficult when the PGA Tour relocated the Genesis Invitational from Riviera Country Club to Torrey Pines out of respect for those impacted by the wildfires in Los Angeles.
"I was sitting at home on the West Coast, that sucked for me," he said. "One of my dreams is to play Torrey South earlier in the year with long rough, cold, South only. And so to miss Torrey twice really, really sucked. I tried. I tried.
"Nothing's worse than hitting a wedge out of thick rough and having everything come to a complete stop, you could make it worse. So that was an easy decision for me to make, thinking of long-term goals."
The long-term goals begin to take shape with Schauffele's return at this week's Arnold Palmer Invitational. Then comes The Players, followed by next month's Masters – one of the two majors he didn't win in 2024.
Schauffele said he arrived at Bay Hill competition rusty, but with a clean bill of health after a battery of CT scans, ultrasounds and MRIs. He wanted to have a full clean bill of health after watching fellow stars Scottie Scheffler and Jordan Spieth return from their own recent injuries that involved surgery.
"I feel like I've been pretty conservative with everything. Hopefully that pays off," Schauffele said. "If things go south, I won't be scared to back off, just because it's, you know, what's down the road is more important."