Xander Schauffele records best finish of season in Rocket Classic debut

Xander Schauffele was eager for a throwback.

After notching his best result of the season, a solo second at the Rocket Classic, Schauffele spoke about wanting to tap into the mentality he had as a rookie on the PGA TOUR.

Ten wins, including two majors, later, sometimes it pays off to look back.

“I wanted to come here and get a few feels, I guess, in play and kind of just freewheel it with sort of a nothing-to-lose mentality. I felt like I spoke about that when I was a rookie on TOUR,” Schauffele said Sunday. “I'm trying to be free and if I hit loose shots, I hit loose shots, but feel free when I'm swinging – and I think we did a pretty good job of that.”

Schauffele ended up two shots back of Michael Thorbjornsen, who won for the first time on TOUR after staging a furious Sunday rally. Thorbjornsen’s 7-under 63 was the round of the day.

Schauffele, who was looking for his first win on the PGA TOUR this season, held a piece of the lead after a tidy 4-under run on his front nine.

He hit a poor drive on No. 13, leading to a bogey, but got it right back on the par-5 14th. Schauffele missed a 12-footer for another birdie on No. 15 and could only muster one more circle on his card after a 16-foot birdie on the par-4 18th found the bottom of the cup.

Still, Schauffele, whose previous best result of 2026 came at THE PLAYERS Championship where he finished solo third, was chuffed with his debut performance at Detroit Golf Club.

“I feel good. You know, I fell short, but I played well,” Schauffele said. “(Thorbjornsen) just played … he played incredible. If you look at his stretch for the last 12 holes, he played incredible golf.

“I played really well and he just beat me straight up, so hats off to him.”

Schauffele had a tidy run of results in the springtime after his effort at TPC Sawgrass, following it up with a T4 at the Valspar Championship and a T9 at the Masters. He added another top-10 finish at the PGA Championship and came into the week at Detroit after a top-20 result at The Open Championship.

This week’s finish will also certainly help Schauffele make a bit of a dent in the Presidents Cup standings. A stalwart on the American side for almost a decade, Schauffele was 11th starting the week.

With the FedExCup Playoffs around the corner, it’s as perfect a time as any for Schauffele to be playing good golf again. And if he’s tapped into a certain kind of attitude that’s allowed him to have a week like what unfolded at the Rocket Classic, then it could be another special run to the TOUR Championship for the past champion at East Lake.