FARMINGDALE, N.Y. – Xander Schauffele is back inside the ropes this week for the 45th Ryder Cup, where he’ll make his first start as a father.

Schauffele has not played competitively since the BMW Championship six weeks ago, but for good reason. His wife, Maya, gave birth to the couple’s first child on Aug. 29, a son named Victor.

“That’s my middle name. No, I didn’t name him after Viktor Hovland,” Schauffele joked Tuesday during his media session at Bethpage Black. “I was Victor way before Viktor (Hovland) was born.”

Schauffele will turn 32 next month, and he shared an eagerness to enter a new stage in both his life and career as a family of three.

“It’s been awesome. I feel very lucky to have my wife. She’s at home with him right now. I miss him a bunch,” he said. “It’s been cool to sort of learn what it’s like to be a dad, and I look forward to everything that comes with that.”

Schauffele admitted he “didn’t do a whole lot of golf for a bit” around the birth, estimating he took three weeks off after ending his postseason run at Caves Valley. He was the only TOUR member on the U.S. Ryder Cup Team who did not tee it up two weeks ago at the Procore Championship, an event won by Scottie Scheffler, where Ben Griffin finished runner-u,p and both J.J. Spaun and Cameron Young finished in the top 10.

But he got back out on the course recently at home and has exceeded even his own expectations for early form during team practice sessions at Bethpage.

“I feel like after these two days, surprisingly playing kind of nice,” Schauffele said with a grin. “It was funny to get some texts from Captain (Bradley) and a lot of the assistants (captains) like, ‘Hey, how you doing?’ Because I wasn’t able to make Napa. But it was good to prepare at home on what was limited sleep but sort of a much clearer head than in-season.”

On a U.S. squad with four rookies, Schauffele is one of the elder statesmen as he makes his third Ryder Cup appearance on the back of a 4-4-0 record that is split down the middle on all three formats. Schauffele memorably lit a victory cigar as part of the American romp at Whistling Straits four years ago, but he went just 1-3 two years ago in Italy as the Europeans won back the trophy.

Schauffele entered this year with high expectations, after two major victories in 2024, but the start to his 2025 campaign was derailed by a rib injury and he never fully got on track. Winless since Royal Troon last summer, Schauffele missed out on the TOUR Championship for the first time in his pro career.

While the focus this week is on team results, Schauffele shared that a win this week would offer a positive cap to what has been an underwhelming campaign by his standards – especially if he closes out the week with another celebratory cigar.

“There’s definitely nice ways to end seasons,” Schauffele said. “Our team knows it’s a process, and what we need to do to get it done. It would help me forget a lot about what happened in 2025.”