Former two-time Major champion and Ryder Cup captain Zach Johnson is in a tough spot, as he still must make a handful of picks for the upcoming Ryder Cup tournament in Rome next month.
One player who will not be sweating on making the final cut is world number 6 Xander Schauffele, who already has one Ryder Cup appearance in the bag. He was the last of the six to automatically qualify with Johnson needing to make a call on the likes of Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth and Brookes Koepka.
Schauffele has a winning record of 3-0-1 and was a member of the triumphant US team at the 2021 edition at Whistling Straits.
The Jupiter, Florida resident has two tied second finished at the Open in 2018 and the 2019 Masters. He is also an Olympic gold medallist in the individual golf event in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. He also helped team USA to gold at the same event.
Skipper Johnson has nothing but praise for the 29-year-old, saying, "Xander is such an incredible talent. It’s been fun to see how well him and Patrick [Reed] have performed in Match Play and the energy they bring on the golf course. "
"I know Xander will be ready to help our team keep the Ryder Cup in Rome," he added.
Schauffele came back from a back injury early in 2023 but returned to the American Express and a T-3 place, despite suffering from pain.
"We [my team] had to dig deep and pull ourselves out of that hole kind of early and kind of catch or get into good form to just even make this Ryder Cup team," he was quoted as telling the Ryder Cup media team.
As for partnerships in Rome, it is a pretty much certainty he will tee up with Patrick Cantlay, considering their 6-3-0 record across two Ryder Cups and a Presidents Cup.
They showed off their teamwork at Whistling Straits when they defeated Lee Westwood and Matt Fitzpatrick 2 and 1.
"They just enjoy being around each other. Each of their games complement the other one," said 2021 captain Steve Stricker.
